Musk wants more control over Tesla and $1 trillion in exchange for an 'enormous robot army'

Elon Musk has said he needs more control over Tesla, which includes him taking home an eye-watering $1 trillion in exchange for building an “enormous robot army”.

The billionaire CEO made the proposal during an earnings call this week, where he asked shareholders to vote on his substantial payment package so that he remains in charge of Tesla's humanoid robots.

Putting his case forward, Musk said, “My fundamental concern with regard to how much voting control I have at Tesla is, if I go ahead and build this enormous robot army, can I just be ousted at some point in the future?”

“If we build this robot army, do I have at least a strong influence over this robot army? Not control, but a strong influence … I don't feel comfortable building that robot army unless I have a strong influence," he added. "That would be my biggest concern."

We saw the Optimus robots in action at Tesla’s Cybercab event last year (which was later revealed to be under remote control by humans) and then earlier this year at the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles, where they were serving drinks and popcorn as well as entertaining customers.

A Tesla Optimus robot scoops popcorn and waves at attendees during the opening of a Tesla Diner and Drive-In restaurant Patrick T. Falon/AFP via Getty Images

Musk himself acknowledged the challenge of building dexterous human-like robot hands on the call. That being said, he believes Optimus will be Tesla's “biggest product of all time”, with talk of robot surgeons and humanoid robots doing work for humans, he reckons Optimus will be “an infinite money glitch" for the tech company, as reported by WIRED.

Now, there are certain hoops Musk would need to jump through before receiving such a massive payout. This includes producing 1 million robotaxis and 1 million humanoid robots, along with increasing Tesla’s valuation (we're talking by trillions).

“It’s called compensation. But it’s not like I’m going to go spend the money,” the Tesla CEO also said during the call. “It’s just, if we build this robot army, do I have at least a strong influence over that robot army? Not control, but a strong influence.”

If successful with these targets, this would skyrocket billionaire Musk - who is already the world's richest man - to a whole new level of wealth and power.

So, when will shareholders be able to vote on Musk's proposal?

This will take place during Tesla's annual shareholder meeting on November 7th, where it is anticipated that shareholders will vote to approve the package, as per The Verge.

Elsewhere from Indy100, Musk’s 'gay' meme slammed as 'homophobia wrapped in juvenile humour', and Watch Space X launch 111th flight successful flight

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