Musk: Humanoid robot Optimus will use FSD system more than Tesla cars

News on May 17, Tesla’s 2023 Annual Shareholders Meeting was held on Tuesday, local time in the United States, at the company’s factory in Austin, Texas, USA. The company's CEO, Elon Musk, answered many questions from shareholders on the spot, including topics such as Cybertruck mass production delivery, FSD development progress, new model development, the humanoid robot Optimus, and Twitter. Musk expects the next 12 months to be challenging, and Tesla is not immune to the impact of the global economic environment.

The following is a summary of Tesla’s 2023 annual shareholder meeting:

Martin Viecha, Tesla’s vice president of investor relations, unveiled the speech to the cheers of the audience The prelude to the annual meeting. He first introduced that the shareholders' meeting will consist of two parts: one is a voting session on several proposals, and the other is a dialogue with Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Vicha then invited Tesla Chairman Robyn Denholm to speak, who highlighted the progress made at the Texas factory over the past year. She said Tesla is preparing to mass-produce its first electric pickup truck, the Cybertruck, and emphasized Tesla's achievements in production capacity. The Tesla chairman also praised the company's leadership for putting Tesla in a strong position to advance its ambitious mission.

Denholm highlighted the environmental milestones Tesla has achieved over the past year. She reiterated certain key points from Tesla's 2022 Impact Report, such as the sustainability of the Supercharger network and the company's battery-related efforts.

Electric cars will be cheaper in the future

Then, Tesla CEO Musk walked onto the stage amid cheers from the audience. He said he loves Tesla shareholders very much and praised the Tesla team for its remarkable achievements in the past year.

Musk mentioned the third part of the master plan, saying that Tesla firmly believes that the path to sustainable development exists and can be accelerated. He mentioned some of the most salient points in the third part of the master plan, such as Tesla’s calculations that switching to sustainability would actually save the world money.

Musk noted that Tesla will conduct third-party audits of its battery supply chain and even install cameras in mines. He also emphasized that the nickel batteries used by Tesla contain almost no cobalt, while iron batteries use no cobalt at all. But Musk noted that even the small amounts of cobalt Tesla uses will be subject to rigorous audits.

Musk invited critics to comment on the third part of the master plan. Most of the feedback on this part has been positive, he said, suggesting Tesla's assumptions may be quite accurate.

Musk promises that electric cars will one day be cheaper than gasoline-powered cars. "We will work hard to make electric cars cheaper than gas cars," he said, noting that Tesla's factories are among the safest in the industry and that Tesla is one of the most popular places to work. He said: "The two most popular companies for engineers on the planet are SpaceX and Tesla. Where will the smartest and most motivated people work? This company will win."

Musk revealed There are many new innovations from Tesla, such as the company's new powertrain, which is more affordable, and the move to a 48V architecture, which will save a lot of copper.

Musk also pointed out that “Full Autonomous Driving” (FSD Beta) is growing at a “super-exponential” rate. He reiterated his previous views on FSD Beta, noting that the system will bring a significant value increase to the Tesla fleet. Musk said: "This is not to say that FSD will be safer than human driving, but it will be much better!"

Model Y will become the world's best-selling car this year

Musk said, Tesla is the world's largest automaker and the one with the highest profit margins in the world. "Our electric vehicle business is already profitable, and no other company is there yet," the CEO said.

But Musk warned: "Tesla is not immune to the impact of the global economic environment." He noted that the next 12 months will be challenging and some companies may go bankrupt. But after this period, Tesla will be in a very good position.

Musk particularly praised Tesla’s software team. He also pointed out that Tesla is confident that Model Y will become the best-selling electric car in the world this year. Today, this model has become the best-selling electric car in Europe and is performing very well in China. "Everything is going well."

Musk specifically emphasized Tesla's commitment to safety, noting that the company is focused on making its cars completely accident-proof. Even if an accident occurs, Tesla will pay special attention to protecting the people inside the vehicle.

Musk also said that Tesla’s in-car overheating protection (an underrated feature) played an important role. He said: "In the history of Tesla, no child or pet has ever died in a Tesla vehicle."

Musk noted that Tesla has seen a lot of demand for its Megapack. "Tesla's Megapack is now more competitive than natural gas power plants," he said. As he has predicted in the past, Tesla's stationary battery storage business is indeed growing faster than the company's electric vehicle business, "Here's The demand is almost limitless," Musk added.

Deliveries of the mass-produced CyberTruck will begin this year

Musk reiterated Tesla’s goal of producing 20 million vehicles per year. He also pointed out that the production of CyberTruck will be difficult and it will still be based on exoskeletons.

Musk said that the production version of Cybertruck will start delivering this year, and it may be better than expected. He added: "CyberTruck is a car that I drive every day, and I think this product is better than expected."

Musk also joked that Tesla is currently producing two new products that will be far better than expected. Far more than the competition. Musk said: "According to my guess, the annual production of these two products alone will exceed 5 million vehicles."

A new video of Tesla Robot (Optimus) was also shared, showing the humanoid robot executing Scenarios for more complex tasks. Musk reiterated that Optimus will use the same FSD system as the company’s electric vehicles.

Musk expects Optimus to far outnumber Tesla cars. With this in mind, don’t be surprised if Tesla’s future business is based on its humanoid robots. "Tesla's long-term value, most of its value will be Optimus. I'm very confident in that prediction," Musk said.

Producing up to 500,000 CyberTrucks per year

A Tesla shareholder wearing an Optimus costume asked: Is Tesla planning to build an RV? Musk responded that Tesla has no plans to launch a dedicated RV yet, but the electric pickup truck will be equipped with some equipment and they will be very suitable for camping. Tesla has even added "attachment points" to the CyberTruck so third-party companies can add other things to the pickup truck.

A shareholder asked about CyberTruck’s target production volume and whether Musk planned to step down as CEO. Musk dismissed rumors of stepping down as CEO. As for CyberTruck production, Musk said production will follow an S-curve. "We'll see what the demand is," he explained, suggesting Tesla could produce 250,000 to 500,000 CyberTrucks per year. He also pointed out that Tesla should not only increase production, but the company should also be able to optimize its production efficiency.

A shareholder asked about the next generation sports car Roadster. Musk noted that we expect to complete engineering and design work on the next-generation sports car this year and hope to begin production next year. Musk added that the Roadster is not just the icing on the cake, it's the icing on the cake.

A shareholder asked about the "guest mode" of Tesla vehicles and the Plaid version of Model X. Musk noted that Tesla will launch a Plaid version of its flagship SUV.

Gary Black, a bullish Tesla Future Fund analyst, asked Tesla about its future pricing strategy for Model Y. Musk noted that Tesla looks at demand and adjusts pricing to meet demand. Car companies have been making adjustments, so Tesla is no exception.

Software Team Focused on Fully Autonomous Driving

A shareholder asked Tesla if it was developing new features that would allow third parties to develop games for the cars. Musk noted that this would make sense in the future, but for now, Tesla's software team is focused on achieving full self-driving. "Once we get to full self-driving, there's going to be a lot of opportunity for apps and things like that," he said.

A shareholder asked about Tesla's software services potential and the company's peak profit margins . Musk pointed out that this is a highly speculative area, but if a customer has a car with the same price but a 20%-25% profit margin, and FSD comes along, then a profit margin of around 80% will be possible. Of course, this is highly speculative.

A shareholder asked about Tesla’s career opportunities and diversity inclusion efforts. Musk noted that at all of Tesla's Gigafactories, the company is working with schools to train talent for its facilities, even though Tesla is already very good at automating it.

A shareholder asked Tesla if there is a timetable for launching FSD to the public. Musk reiterated that everything about FSD is purely about ensuring safety.

A shareholder asked about cybersecurity and what steps Tesla is taking to protect itself and its products. The shareholder also asked Tesla if it could make some navigation improvements. Musk noted that Tesla is putting a lot of effort into making sure its cars are protected from cyberattacks. "We take information security very seriously," Musk said.

Will Optimus be deployed on Mars?

A shareholder asked whether Optimus would be deployed on Mars. Musk noted that Optimus isn't yet that far-reaching in its thinking, but Tesla is emphasizing the humanoid robot's safety.

A long-term retail investor asked Tesla about its plans to secure lithium supplies. Musk noted that he believes the constraint on lithium is refining, which is why Tesla is building a refinery in South Texas. "The limiting factor is not how fast you can mine, but how much you can refine," he said. One shareholder asked Tesla about rolling out insurance in more states, including Florida. Tesla Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn confirmed off camera that Tesla will launch insurance operations in Florida this year. Musk said that the process for obtaining approval for insurance business is very complicated.

Tesla will try advertising

A Tesla shareholder asked how the company would incentivize customers to embrace energy products. Musk noted that Tesla has made progress on many projects.

A shareholder asked Musk how he was doing recently. The CEO noted that the constant negative media coverage of him is not very interesting, but he himself is optimistic. "Sometimes, the pain level of the job is excruciating," Musk said, noting that he believed Twitter's new CEO could keep the platform running smoothly.

A shareholder asked Tesla if it would extend the financing terms for its cars. Musk said that banks are the main body that determines the terms of their car financing. "It's really the bank's choice to do what they are willing to do."

One shareholder believes that Tesla needs advertising to at least let people know about the amazing things about Tesla that people don’t know. In fact, Musk agrees. "We'll try some advertising and see how it goes," he said, and the audience cheered. Musk joked that he had picked up on subtle hints from shareholders.

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