Elon Musk, the billionaire tech entrepreneur, is seeking a compensation package that would grant him more voting control over Tesla before the company emerges as a leader in artificial intelligence (AI). Musk expressed this desire on X (formerly Twitter), emphasizing that his interest lies in influencing the direction of AI rather than seeking additional financial gain. He indicated that if he owned 25% of the shares with voting rights, it would provide him with influence, as long as the approval ratio remains above 15%. Musk's comments come as discussions with Tesla's board regarding his compensation plan have been temporarily halted due to a court case in 2022.
In 2022, shareholders sued Musk over his pay package, a $56 billion deal reached in 2018, considered the largest CEO pay package in history at the time. Musk, who currently holds about 13% of Tesla shares after selling a portion in 2022, expressed his willingness to discuss his next compensation plan. He previously held as much as 22% of Tesla shares. Musk highlighted that if he doesn't secure 25% of the voting rights, he would prefer to focus on building products outside of Tesla. The tech entrepreneur mentioned that discussions with the board would resume once the outcome of the court case is determined in 2022.
Tesla is actively involved in various AI-related projects, including the development of the AI supercomputer Dojo, Autopilot and fully self-driving software, and the early-stage robotics project Optimus. Musk's other companies, X and Neuralink, are also engaged in AI product and service development. X recently launched its own large-scale language model to compete with products like ChatGPT, while Neuralink has developed proprietary robotics technology for automated surgical applications. The current state of Tesla's AI efforts, particularly Autopilot and Full Self-Driving, indicates that they are driver assistance software and not yet licensed for self-driving car operation.
