Tesla 2023 shareholder meeting: Musk talks Cybertruck, economy, advertising

Tesla CEO Elon Musk addressed shareholders astatine the company's yearly gathering connected Tuesday, predicting the system would prime up aft 12 months and promising the institution would present accumulation Cybertrucks aboriginal this year.

Addressing the agelong delays to the angular electrical pickup, Musk lamented immoderate of the manufacturing challenges and said, "Sorry for the delay. We're yet going to commencement delivering accumulation Cybertrucks aboriginal this year." He said Cybertruck would beryllium the conveyance helium drives connected a regular basis.

Once Tesla has ramped up afloat accumulation of the Cybertruck, Musk said it should beryllium capable to nutrient 250,000 to 500,000 units per year. "We'll marque arsenic galore arsenic radical privation and tin afford," helium said. He admitted it volition beryllium hard to marque the outgo of the Cybertruck affordable, due to the fact that it is simply a caller car made with a caller manufacturing method.

Musk besides said that helium expects a challenging economical situation to persist for the adjacent 12 months, and that galore companies volition spell bankrupt. But aft that, helium believes, the system volition retrieve and Tesla volition beryllium well-positioned.

In addition, helium predicted that the Tesla Model Y would beryllium "the fig 1 best-selling car connected Earth this year."

During the Q&A session, an attendee dressed similar a robot with a cowboy hat, asked Musk if Tesla would physique an RV oregon a camper. Musk said the institution doesn't program to physique an RV astatine this time, but that the forthcoming Cybertruck could beryllium converted into an RV oregon a camper.

Responding to a question astir his $44 cardinal takeover of societal media work Twitter, Musk said it was a "short-term distraction" and said helium had to bash immoderate "major open-heart surgery" to guarantee its survival, past noted that helium was excited to person erstwhile NBC Universal advertizing enforcement Linda Yaccarino joining the institution to go its caller CEO.

Another attendee asked Musk if helium would reconsider Tesla's longstanding stance connected accepted advertising. Historically, the institution has relied connected connection of mouth, influencer selling and different non-traditional selling and advertizing to get the connection retired astir its products and their champion attributes.

Musk said connected Tuesday, "We'll effort retired a small advertizing and spot however it goes."

Earlier, shareholders voted to adhd erstwhile Tesla CTO JB Straubel, who is present the CEO of Redwood Materials, to the automaker's committee of directors. Redwood Materials recycles physics discarded and batteries, and past twelvemonth struck a multi-billion dollar deal with Tesla supplier Panasonic.

After the shareholder vote, CEO Elon Musk kicked disconnected his information of the gathering with a committedness to behaviour a third-party audit of Tesla's cobalt proviso chain, namely to guarantee determination is nary kid labour wrong immoderate of Tesla's cobalt suppliers.

Cobalt is simply a captious constituent for accumulation of batteries that spell into Tesla's electrical cars and backup artillery packs utilized astatine homes and for utility-scale vigor projects. "Even for the tiny magnitude of cobalt that we bash us, we volition marque definite six weeks til Sunday that nary kid labour is being exploited," Musk said to the cheers of investors successful attendance successful person.

Musk besides announced that Tesla plans to nutrient a caller benignant of thrust unit, which helium said volition necessitate little silicon carbide than anterior thrust trains, and nary uncommon world elements. He added that Tesla volition besides power to a new, debased voltage architecture successful its cars which should necessitate little copper.

Later successful his presentation, Musk boasted astir the company's vigor retention concern and said maturation successful the income of "big batteries" was faster than maturation successful the company's halfway automotive segment.

Back successful 2017, Musk unveiled a "next gen" Tesla Roadsterduring an lawsuit to denote the Tesla Semi, the company's people 8 electrical truck. On Tuesday helium said the Roadster, which was primitively slated for accumulation and deliveries successful 2020, whitethorn spell into accumulation successful 2024.

Musk besides waxed optimistic astir a humanoid robot successful improvement astatine Tesla, referred to arsenic Optimus. Optimus should beryllium capable to tally connected the aforesaid benignant of bundle and machine that Tesla uses to alteration precocious operator assistance systems successful its cars, Musk said.

The CEO said helium believes that "a bulk of semipermanent value" astatine Tesla volition beryllium derived from Optimus eventually.

Since the electrical conveyance maker's past yearly gathering successful August 2022, Tesla's largest retail shareholder, Leo Koguan, has criticized Musk for selling billions of dollars worthy of his Tesla holdings to concern a $44 cardinal buyout of Twitter, the societal media company.

Koguan, who is simply a billionaire and laminitis of the IT services steadfast SHI International, called for the company's board to "perform daze therapy to resuscitate banal price," namely by mode of a stock buyback precocious past year.

Some organization Tesla investors person admonished Musk for being excessively distracted with his caller relation arsenic Twitter CEO to execute optimally astatine the helm of Tesla, but Musk said connected Tuesday that helium expected to walk little clip connected Twitter going guardant than helium has successful the past six months. They person besides criticized the Tesla board, led by chairwoman Robyn Denholm, for failing to rein him successful and support shareholders' interests.

An attendee asked Musk astir rumors that helium is reasoning of stepping down from Tesla. Musk said "it ain't so."

He added, "I deliberation Tesla's going to play an important relation successful AI and AGI and I deliberation I request to oversee that to marque definite it's good," speaking of artificial wide intelligence, which is the thought of a hypothetical intelligent agent. Musk past claimed that Tesla has "by acold the astir precocious existent satellite AI" of each tech companies today.

Shares successful Tesla closed astatine $228.52 connected October 28, 2022, aft Musk officially took implicit Twitter. They closed astatine $166.52 connected May 16, 2023, arsenic the gathering kicked off, and roseate astir 0.5% aft hours.

At past year's shareholders meeting, Musk predicted an 18-month recession, teased the anticipation of stock buybacks, and told investors that electrical conveyance concern was aiming to nutrient 20 cardinal vehicles annually by 2030, which helium thought would necessitate a twelve factories full with each 1 producing 1.5 cardinal to 2 cardinal units per year.

Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the genitor institution of CNBC.