Elon Musk held an unscheduled meeting with Tesla employees in Texas to discuss the company’s future amid its declining brand reputation and plunging stock price. According to The Verge, Musk tried to galvanize the staff during the meeting, which was broadcast live, and also urged them not to sell Tesla shares, even though their value has fallen 50% since December.
Image Source: Tesla
Musk said Tesla’s future will be secured by two key projects: the humanoid Optimus robot and the Cybercab robotaxi. He emphasized that the company’s autonomous software, including the Full Self-Driving system, will take Tesla to a new level. “This is something so big that it has no analogues in the past,” Musk said. According to him, Tesla will be able to produce about 5,000 Optimus robots this year, and ten times more next year.
Musk paid special attention to the Cybercab project, promising a revolutionary breakthrough in production. He said that Tesla is developing a process that will allow robotaxis to be assembled “in less than five seconds,” like on a high-speed consumer electronics production line. Recall that the Cybercab robotaxis were presented at the Tesla We, Robot event last year, and sales are expected to begin in 2026 at a price of $30,000.
Interestingly, meetings with employees usually take place during the day, but this time Musk held it urgently in the evening, which may be due to increasing pressure from investors and analysts, The Verge notes. In particular, Dan Ives, an analyst at the financial company Wedbush, expressed concern that Musk is too involved in politics.
Musk has certainly been focusing on his work at DOGE, the U.S. government’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is tasked with cutting U.S. government spending. But he’s also been criticized for making sweeping cuts to agencies like the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). He also continues to run SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. Yes, Musk has a lot on his plate, and jokes that he has 17 full-time jobs.