Tesla glory/failure

[nadir]

NEWS: Redwood Materials, founded by Tesla co-founder @jbstraubel, has been named on TIME's top 100 most influential companies of 2024.
 
Redwood Materials: 2024 TIME100 Most Influential Companies
May 30, 2024

Even as he was helping to launch the electric-car revolution, Tesla co-founder J.B. Straubel was thinking about what would ultimately happen to the valuable nickel, cobalt, and lithium in battery packs. Redwood Materials, which he founded in 2017, is helping to create a circular battery economy that shrinks the environmental footprint of EVs. Its proprietary process mines up to 95% of key elements from used batteries, as well as other minerals. In Straubel’s view, the startup is developing the business and engineering plan for “the inevitable future” of EV batteries, which will serve to drive down their cost—and therefore the cost of EVs—by returning materials to battery manufacturers. In January, Redwood broke ground on its second facility, a $3.5 billion plant in South Carolina. The expansion is partly fueled by a $2 billion Department of Energy loan, but the substance of Straubel’s vision has attracted many big-name customers, including Ford, Nissan, Panasonic, and Lyft. Last year, Redwood signed a long-term agreement to recycle Toyota’s spent EV batteries and make them into new components.

https://time.com/6979982/redwood-materials/

Be truthful. Don’t post lies. He was not a co-founder, he was the fourth employee, and later named co-founder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._Straubel

The real Tesla founders were Eberhard and Tarpenning, whether your god on earth likes it or not.

[Sigmetnow]

Be truthful. Don’t post lies. He was not a co-founder, he was the fourth employee, and later named co-founder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._Straubel

The real Tesla founders were Eberhard and Tarpenning, whether your god on earth likes it or not.

That nit-picking in no way detracts from TIME’s recognition of Redwood Materials’ major accomplishments.

[nadir]

—- Tesla Semi for the First Time in 🇪🇺 Europe

In September, Tesla will be showing the Semi for the first time in 🇪🇺 Europe at the commercial vehicle trade fair IAA Transportation in 🇩🇪 Hanover, Germany and this is a clear sign that Tesla is targeting the European market and that production will soon ramp.
…
A large part of freight transport in Europe is diverse due to the many countries and lorry traffic contributes significantly to transport and environmental pollution. …

5/30/24, https://x.com/alex_avoigt/status/1796084634276581438

It turns out that I work at few meters from an important transport hub in Europe, and I can assure you, given the extremely limited Tesla Semi range, the uncomfortable it is compared to a vertically stacked european semi, the time it takes to charge, and the pauper state of charging network in Europe, the Tesla Semi is going to achieve little more than eating shit. Maybe some corporation will be willing to lose money using it to claim they are going green. Little more. Will be forgotten sooner than in the US.

[nadir]

Be truthful. Don’t post lies. He was not a co-founder, he was the fourth employee, and later named co-founder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._B._Straubel

The real Tesla founders were Eberhard and Tarpenning, whether your god on earth likes it or not.

That nit-picking in no way detracts from TIME’s recognition of Redwood Materials’ major accomplishments.

Oh TIME recognition, wasn’t Elisabeth Holmes on TIME… or was that FORTUNE? Just saying that I don’t give a damn about TIME recognition, nothing against the fourth employee of Tesla (what was his name? I would remember him  should Elon have not taken the absolute protagonism of Tesla for all these years).

[Sigmetnow]

It turns out that I work at few meters from an important transport hub in Europe…

This explains your unceasing Tesla trolling!  Why you refuse to accept facts and keep burying your head in the sand, rejecting Tesla’s industry-leading advances.  That’s all you can do. 

Not worth further discussion.

[nadir]

It turns out that I work at few meters from an important transport hub in Europe…

This explains your unceasing Tesla trolling!  Why you refuse to accept facts and keep burying your head in the sand, rejecting Tesla’s industry-leading advances.  That’s all you can do. 

Not worth further discussion.

The explanation is much easier. If you recall, in 2022 I didn’t even know what Autopilot vs FSD was, and didn’t care much about Tesla except that they looked cool electric things and all when I was visiting CA (not many of them in my neighborhood).

But your constant uncritical advertising and gushing for all things Elon started to pique my curiosity and I started my own research. Cause I hate a couple of cultists like you and Neil stand unchallenged in this or any Forum. Since you’re for Free Speech you understand me don’t you?

If I am obsessed with something is with responding to fallacies and breaking religious monologues. And that this thread should not exist here. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[nadir]

Tesla M3 and MY batteries degrade fast, study finds

https://gizmodo.com.au/2024/06/tesla-vehicle-batteries-degrade-under-65-of-rated-range-after-only-three-years/

But who cares, Tesla is an AI company

(just as Domino’s Pizza is a tech company and not a Pizzeria, according to Dominos execs; bending the truth for hype purposes).

[Sigmetnow]

—- Tesla Semi for the First Time in 🇪🇺 Europe

In September, Tesla will be showing the Semi for the first time in 🇪🇺 Europe at the commercial vehicle trade fair IAA Transportation in 🇩🇪 Hanover, Germany and this is a clear sign that Tesla is targeting the European market and that production will soon ramp.
…
A large part of freight transport in Europe is diverse due to the many countries and lorry traffic contributes significantly to transport and environmental pollution. …

5/30/24, https://x.com/alex_avoigt/status/1796084634276581438

It turns out that I work at few meters from an important transport hub in Europe, and I can assure you, given the extremely limited Tesla Semi range, the uncomfortable it is compared to a vertically stacked european semi, the time it takes to charge, and the pauper state of charging network in Europe, the Tesla Semi is going to achieve little more than eating shit. Maybe some corporation will be willing to lose money using it to claim they are going green. Little more. Will be forgotten sooner than in the US.

Facts and real-world experience say much different. 
 
And charging infrastructure will naturally grow with e-truck use — even in Europe.  First at company distribution hubs, then at truck stops serving all brands.

[Sigmetnow]

Tesla M3 and MY batteries degrade fast, study finds

Not so fast.

[Sigmetnow]

The explanation is much easier. If you recall, in 2022 I didn’t even know what Autopilot vs FSD was, and didn’t care much about Tesla except that they looked cool electric things and all when I was visiting CA (not many of them in my neighborhood).

But your constant uncritical advertising and gushing for all things Elon started to pique my curiosity and I started my own research. Cause I hate a couple of cultists like you and Neil stand unchallenged in this or any Forum. Since you’re for Free Speech you understand me don’t you?

If I am obsessed with something is with responding to fallacies and breaking religious monologues. And that this thread should not exist here. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Yes, this is definitely not the place to discuss the “Policy and Solutions” of a company doing more than any other company on earth to disrupt the fossil-fuel-based economy that gave us AGW.   /s

EDIT:
 
Example:

Top 10: Energy Storage Companies
 
1. Tesla
 
Tesla has been growing its energy storage business in recent years. Established as a key player in the electric automotive industry, it has diversified its offerings to include battery storage — now one of its strongest offerings. Tesla Energy’s energy storage business has never been better. Despite only launching its energy storage arm in 2015, as of 2023 the company had an output of 14.7GWh in battery energy storage systems. Its portfolio includes storage products like the Powerwall and the Megapack.
 
Tesla is widely regarded as pioneering the future of energy thanks to its work in solar and battery storage, leading the renewable energy sector by providing innovative and efficient solutions for homeowners and businesses alike.

https://energydigital.com/top10/top-10-energy-storage-companies

[nadir]

Just what exactly is this deluded Cybertruck owner expecting to achieve with that meme of a car?

(about 1 minute video)

[nadir]

“Interesting article from Shiva Rajgopal is the Kester and Brynes Professor of Accounting and Auditing at Columbia Business School at Forbes:

Ratifying The Musk Award Might Lead To Large Earnings Hit For Tesla

Tesla’s 2024 proxy statement seems to argue that a shareholder ratification of the 2018 option to Mr. Musk, rescinded by the Delaware court, will lead no new charge for compensation expense. I don’t think that’s right.

The legal effect of the stockholder vote is, at best, unclear. Tesla’s asserts that section 204 of the Delaware code can ratify the 2018 option award to Mr. Musk. Professor Charles Elson (2024) has suggested in a proposed brief submitted to the Delaware court that there is no such thing as a statutory ratification of a fiduciary breach, where the breach refers to the circumstances associated with the 2018 award that the Court took issue with. He contends that section 204 was meant to only cover technical defects, based on his review of 32 reported and unreported cases citing section 204.

Importantly, however, the vote does not only present legal questions. There are also significant accounting questions. Tesla’s 2024 proxy statement seems to suggest that reinstating the 2018 award will result in no incremental charge to its bottom line.

I argue that this is an unreasonable interpretation of both the accounting guidance and the economics of the ratified award. Before they vote one way or the other, shareholders need to be aware that if the ratification is successful in restoring the 2018 award, it will likely lead to a hit to Tesla’s earnings of a number around or upwards of $25 billion.

In essence, the options that Tesla is asking shareholders to restore to Mr. Musk are deep in-the-money options or options that specify a strike price at which a share can be acquired considerably lower than the current stock price. ASC 718 states that the fair value of such a deep-in-the-money option should be expensed as compensation expense. If a successful ratification vote has the legal effect that Tesla says it does, it will give back to Mr. Musk an immediately exercisable 303,960,630 options, whose intrinsic value is $51 billion.

Even if we were to go with the conservative $25 billion number, Tesla will have to book that number as compensation expense. That charge will potentially wipe out Tesla’s pre-tax profits for the last two years of $14.9 billion and $12.5 billion.”

https://x.com/a4xrbj1/status/1797199586504933575

https://www.forbes.com/sites/shivaramrajgopal/2024/06/01/ratifying-the-musk-award-might-lead-to-large-earnings-hit-for-tesla/

[Sigmetnow]

Tesla released this full presentation a few days ago on its votetesla.com website.

Here is a full 25-page presentation that Tesla's board of directors is showing to investors.
Thread:  pic.twitter.com/jAeu8IunGT 
5/29/24, 5:36 PM. https://x.com/sawyermerritt/status/1795932267086336376

Aligned with Stockholder Interests

01
In 2018, stockholders approved a Performance Award that incentivized Elon to create tremendous value for everyone with a stake in Tesla.

02
In under six years, Elon delivered a total shareholder return of nearly 1,100%.

03
If Elon failed to achieve unprecedented growth targets for Tesla, he would receive ZERO compensation. He did not fail.

04
Elon must hold any shares awarded through stock options for five years after the option is exercised, incentivizing him to continue to drive growth into the future.

05
The ultra-ambitious plan was simple: if stockholders and the Company benefit, so does Elon. Stockholders overwhelmingly voted to approve the plan in 2018.

06
Six years later, a Delaware Court ignored this decision and ordered the plan be cancelled.

[NeilT]

I did my thinking about this and the shareholder balance has changed quite a bit since this plan was approved.

If the shareholders don't approve his award he needs to step down, dump his shares and then set up other companies to meet his goal.

Timing would be critical though.

Right now there is a concerted campaign to sue Tesla and Elon into the ground to remove the competitive ability of Tesla.

The only way to stop this is to remove the issue.  Harsh for investors but those who will be hurt most are those who bought at ATH and are now refusing his pay package because values have fallen.

If Elon bails and competes the fall from ATH is going to be the least of their issues.  They will have nobody to blame but themselves.

Right now Elon is in fight mode.  He did this in the PayPal era too.  Until he decided he wasn't going to be able to meet his goals and bailed.

The outcome of extracting his money from PayPal is SpaceX and Tesla.

Now we can try this again with $billions instead of $millions.

[Sigmetnow]

All the 2018 package does is allow Elon Musk to purchase 303,960,630 shares of Tesla stock at an exercise price of $23.34 per share from the company.

On a cash basis, it doesn’t cost the company anything to “pay” him. Counterintuitively, the company’s cash balance would increase by $7.1 billion if he exercised the shares, allowing the company to invest more and fortify its balance sheet.

I believe it is the best interest of Tesla shareholders to have Musk incentivized to focus on Tesla as many ventures compete for his scarce, valuable attention. That is to say, if Musk has 25%, that other 75% is worth more than 100% of the company would be worth if Musk wasn’t a shareholder. Giving him equity and having him involved will make shareholders richer. 

5/29/24, 5:29 PM https://x.com/wholemarsblog/status/1795930549665886385

[Espen]

Musk will leave Tesla regardless of the outcome, at least the part that relates to vehicles, he, like his colleagues in Europe, is aware that they cannot control the China tsunami, he will presumably take full ownership of the FSD technology and its data and sell this asset via licenses, and then he will pursue other projects that are interesting to him, such as the recent AI project. My kick!

[nadir]

This should be so embarrassing for Tesla shareholders:

https://x.com/neil_x10/status/1797537726633582724?s=61&t=9MiRvKAgDGxPZaLuewOvGQ

Elon is well prepared to throw Tesla under the bus when it comes to AI.
Isn’t even illegal what he is doing? Doesn’t he have a legal responsibility to defend the interests of Tesla?

BTW one doesn’t have to look for the typical TeslaQ accounts anymore to find this kind of embarrassing information about Musk.

I think it would be just fair that some team(s)of Feds were putting together a strong case to bring Musk down.

[Sigmetnow]

Before they vote one way or the other, shareholders need to be aware that if the ratification is successful in restoring the 2018 award, it will likely lead to a hit to Tesla’s earnings of a number around or upwards of $25 billion.

No.  But forcing Tesla to create a replacement package in its place, would.

Tesla's board of directors has released a new four page letter to shareholders talking about ISS.

ISS says...
"Some investors may find the board's argument compelling, that it would be unfair for CEO Musk not to receive the award, which was previously approved by shareholders, and after achieving the high performance hurdles. However, the concerns raised, both back in 2018 and in the interim, have not been sufficiently mitigated, particularly given that the board has effectively only offered shareholders an 'all or nothing' option in this vote."

The FACT is...
ISS doesn't understand the very definition of ratification - under Delaware law, ratification MUST be all or nothing. Ratification presents stockholders with an opportunity to uphold their same vote from 2018.
We are pleased that ISS acknowledges the categorically unfair premise of Elon not receiving the Award, given it was a deal that he and the Board agreed to, and that stockholders overwhelming approved back in 2018. We made a deal. Elon delivered.

However, ISS has a fundamental misunderstanding of what happens if the Award is not ratified. Through its robust process, the Special Committee was tasked with deciding whether or not ratification was the best path forward for the Company and for its stockholders. As is pointed out by ISS, Elon has not been compensated during the time that Tesla stockholders saw significant value creation. He should be and needs to be compensated.

This plan is intended to incentivize, motivate and retain Elon, and if not through ratification of the 2018 Award, the Tesla Board would need to negotiate a replacement compensation package. We believe it is unlikely that such a replacement award would be less costly, less dilutive or create more of an incentive for Elon. Doing so would present several hurdles for Tesla, including significant time and additional costs - all to the detriment of stockholders. For example, a functionally equivalent? grant of new options could result in an accounting charge of more than $25 billion, compared to the $2.3 billion charge originally recognized for the 2018 Award.

Source: https://ir.tesla.com/_flysystem/s3/sec/000110465924067413/tm2413800d16_defa14a-gen.pdf

From: https://x.com/sawyermerritt/status/1797638085032718517

[nadir]

I did my thinking about this and the shareholder balance has changed quite a bit since this plan was approved.

If the shareholders don't approve his award he needs to step down, dump his shares and then set up other companies to meet his goal.

Timing would be critical though.

Right now there is a concerted campaign to sue Tesla and Elon into the ground to remove the competitive ability of Tesla.

The only way to stop this is to remove the issue.  Harsh for investors but those who will be hurt most are those who bought at ATH and are now refusing his pay package because values have fallen.

If Elon bails and competes the fall from ATH is going to be the least of their issues.  They will have nobody to blame but themselves.

Right now Elon is in fight mode.  He did this in the PayPal era too.  Until he decided he wasn't going to be able to meet his goals and bailed.

The outcome of extracting his money from PayPal is SpaceX and Tesla.

Now we can try this again with $billions instead of $millions.

That scenario you paint means hurting badly or even sinking the company but not because Musk leaves, but because shorting his position would be sort of a tsunami.

The notion of the irreplaceable CEO is ridiculous, should Tesla enjoy a more solid position(it doesn’t and Musk “leadership” since the Twitter drama started has made sure of it)

The notion of Musk sinking Tesla without rising his blood pressure a single decimal point is unfortunately quite plausible.

[Rascal Dog]

So Elon Musk is irreplaceable.

Graveyards are full of irreplaceable people.

[kiwichick16]

how would Tesla fare without the protection / subsidy of 100% tariffs on Chinese EV's ?

from an outsiders perspective it often appears that the US just changes the rules when they start losing the game

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/A-short-history-of-the-lengthy-US-Japan-auto-disputes

[oren]

All the 2018 package does is allow Elon Musk to purchase 303,960,630 shares of Tesla stock at an exercise price of $23.34 per share from the company.

On a cash basis, it doesn’t cost the company anything to “pay” him. Counterintuitively, the company’s cash balance would increase by $7.1 billion if he exercised the shares, allowing the company to invest more and fortify its balance sheet.

A brilliant idea, maybe Tesla should offer more of these options to people, since they don't cost anything and improve Tesla's balance sheet??

[NeilT]

That scenario you paint means hurting badly or even sinking the company but not because Musk leaves, but because shorting his position would be sort of a tsunami.

The notion of the irreplaceable CEO is ridiculous, should Tesla enjoy a more solid position(it doesn’t and Musk “leadership” since the Twitter drama started has made sure of it)

The notion of Musk sinking Tesla without rising his blood pressure a single decimal point is unfortunately quite plausible.

Musk is irreplaceable in one metric.  He is seen by certain shareholders as the engine which drives Tesla to limits beyond which other companies will not go.  For instance Elon was a large driving force in making giant castings happen which is the main factor in the speed of the MY build and it's COGS value.


I don't think Elon would dump the company unless he felt that staying would have the same eventual result.  Unfortunately current stock traders in Tesla stock are likely to give him exactly that vibe.

[nadir]

I dont know if Musk departure would kill Tesla but he certainly is preparing the xAI ship to sail. Does he know the results of the vote, or does he know that regardless the vote result, the plan explained by NeilT is “the plan”?

[Espen]

News:
-- Elon Musk wants to grow Tesla's focus on artificial intelligence and robotics, but a report by CNBC says that the executive has been diverting shipments of AI processors previously reserved for the EV maker to his social media company X.

-- According to internal Nvidia emails, Musk told the chipmaker, which supplies the flagship H100 chip to Tesla, to prioritize shipments to X and xAI instead.

-- By ordering Nvidia to let X receive shipments previously destined for Tesla, Musk pushed back the EV maker's receipt of more than $500 million in processors by months, further delaying ambitions to develop autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots, CNBC said in the report.

-- CNBC also reported that emails it has read show escalating conflict between Musk and certain Tesla shareholders concerned that the CEO isn't properly fulfilling his obligations to Tesla while simultaneously running his other companies.

[kassy]

So the CEO has some clear conflict of interest and he is also hurting Tesla by prioritising his new hobbies.

[Sigmetnow]

Kolodny hit piece: Elon ordered Nvidia to ship thousands of AI chips reserved for Tesla to X and xAI
 
Elon Musk on the CNBC story: “Tesla had no place to send the Nvidia chips to turn them on; The south extension of Giga Texas is almost complete. This will house 50k H100s for FSD training.”
6/4/24, 11:03 AM  https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1798007748728365503
   
   —
Elon Musk on his workload increase after the Twitter acquisition:
5/26/24, https://x.com/elon_docs/status/1794800292481179903
 
➡️ pic.twitter.com/psX0V14TOc  27 sec.  My workload went from about 70-80 hours a week to probably 120. I go to sleep, I wake up, I work. Go to sleep, wake up, work. Do that seven days a week.  Yeah.  Have to do that for a while. But once Twitter is set the right path, I think it will be an easier thing to manage than SpaceX or Tesla.

Musk has received no pay from Tesla for the past six years.  When the SEC removed his CEO title, he replaced it with “Technoking” and “really saw no difference.”  This does not sound like a person who would just walk away if the stockholder vote did not go in his favor!
 
The Tesla board is massively aware of all he adds to the company’s value, and no doubt has been planning a compensation work-around for years.  Musk has mentioned they are waiting for the lawsuit to settle first.

 
—- More on FSD

Gali
 
FSD is too aggressive for me. even chill mode. can we have 'Turtle' mode 🐢 that is super duper cautious and slow?? 🐌 …
this feedback is for city streets/urban driving specifically

Elon Musk
FSD will have chill, standard and hurry modes

5/31/24, https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1796715946918228360

[nadir]

Musk has received no pay from Tesla for the past six years.

Wow, so unfair.

Yeah he simply cashed out about 40 billion in 2021-2022 from his own stake and previous compensation package.

That’s close to three times the aggregated profits of Tesla so far.

That’s $20,000 per car ever manufactured by Tesla!

And he has some more 80 billion in stocks, plus the famous 2018 package ~$40b should it be ratified (approx numbers, I am sure you know them better).

[kassy]

My workload went from about 70-80 hours a week to probably 120.

Again not in Tesla´s interest. And nevermind the spread. If he was better rested he might not have fired the supercharger team?

Oh and Tesla was not getting those chips for another iteration of FSD? Their prime use is not in factories?

[Sigmetnow]

Elon Musk
The deal allows me to sell enough stock to pay the taxes. The remaining stock must be held for 5 years, so it is impossible for me to cash out and run.
5/31/24, 10:14 PM. https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1796726880873087390

James Stephenson @ICannot_Enough
… and it will obliterate the record for most taxes ever paid to the U.S. government in a single year— currently held by…

<checks notes>

… Elon Musk.
 
5/31/24, https://x.com/icannot_enough/status/1796728164292727010

[Sigmetnow]

My workload went from about 70-80 hours a week to probably 120.

Again not in Tesla´s interest. And nevermind the spread. If he was better rested he might not have fired the supercharger team?

Oh and Tesla was not getting those chips for another iteration of FSD? Their prime use is not in factories?

Most billionaires would have bought an island and done nothing productive for the rest of their lives.  That’s not how Musk works.  He has great teams in all his companies, and he leads them to do unbelievable things.  A leader with a “9 to 5” mentality doesn’t change the world, and the world needs changing.  Fast.

As with the Twitter acquisition, doing a clean sweep of personnel is the quickest way to transition to a new model, rather than being hamstrung by the old guard and the way they used to do things.  Tesla is now hiring back the best and brightest to the Supercharger team, and implementing a new model.

Giga Texas is still under construction.  A huge area with powerful chillers is being built to house the new computer center.  The Fremont factory has been short on space for years — they don’t have room for it.  AI is FSD.  And x.AI.  And Optimus….

[nadir]

The explanation by Musk that Tesla didn’t have room to install the NDIVIAs
😂😂😂😂
I can imagine. “So send them to my private stash at xAI”.

Could we call this “lack of governance” and “breach of duty”?

[Espen]

My workload went from about 70-80 hours a week to probably 120.

Again not in Tesla´s interest. And nevermind the spread. If he was better rested he might not have fired the supercharger team?

Oh and Tesla was not getting those chips for another iteration of FSD? Their prime use is not in factories?

Most billionaires would have bought an island and done nothing productive for the rest of their lives.  That’s not how Musk works.  He has great teams in all his companies, and he leads them to do unbelievable things.  A leader with a “9 to 5” mentality doesn’t change the world, and the world needs changing.  Fast.

As with the Twitter acquisition, doing a clean sweep of personnel is the quickest way to transition to a new model, rather than being hamstrung by the old guard and the way they used to do things.  Tesla is now hiring back the best and brightest to the Supercharger team, and implementing a new model.

Giga Texas is still under construction.  A huge area with powerful chillers is being built to house the new computer center.  The Fremont factory has been short on space for years — they don’t have room for it.  AI is FSD.  And x.AI.  And Optimus….

I wonder when Sig thinks the limit of disloyalty is reached, if at all?
It may be true that certain billionaires buy an island, it is equally true that certain entrepreneurs and billionaires are getting bored relatively quickly, and I strongly suspect that Mr. Musk is in that phase and can look back on a successful project (Tesla) and wants to try something new and much more challenging and interesting, namely the development of AI in various forms, not involving too many people, which he basically considers to be a pain somewhere (PITA)!

[nadir]

So Elon Musk is irreplaceable.

Graveyards are full of irreplaceable people.

Steve Jobs departed in 2011, $APPL value was about $20. Cook is not the most exciting CEO, yet $APPL is in the neighborhood of $200.

Was Jobs irreplaceable? No, but because he left a company with an incredible momentum, lots of innovations, the best engineering, and clear focus for the future.

Tesla right now gives the impression of being a headless chicken inflated with hormones. I think Tesla is damned if they do damned if they don’t wrt the ratification of Musk.

[Sigmetnow]

Elon Musk
 
Of the roughly $10B in AI-related expenditures I said Tesla would make this year, about half is internal, primarily the Tesla-designed AI inference computer and sensors present in all of our cars, plus Dojo.

For building the AI training superclusters, NVidia hardware is about 2/3 of the cost.

My current best guess for Nvidia purchases by Tesla are $3B to $4B this year.

6/4/24, 2:12 PM. https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1798055141670781107

[Sigmetnow]

I wonder when Sig thinks the limit of disloyalty is reached, if at all?

Not disloyalty, Espen.  Shared resources.  It would be stupid to have multiple distantly-related companies each spending billions trying to reach the same massive goal within their own walls.  There are engineers who join Tesla or SpaceX only on the condition they can work at both.  New materials designed at one company may be just the thing the other company needs.  To wall them off from each other due to “loyalty” would be irresponsible, and would slow progress or make it impossible.

[NeilT]

The explanation by Musk that Tesla didn’t have room to install the NDIVIAs
😂😂😂😂
I can imagine. “So send them to my private stash at xAI”.

Could we call this “lack of governance” and “breach of duty”?

Does anyone ever read the original article?

The headline screams "sent orders to X and Xai".  The article says that Elon instructed Nvidia that X and Xai could "jump the reservation queue", i.e. Tesla would take their reservations and they would take Tesla's.

This is an entirely different thing.

Nvidia H100 chips are about the fastest depreciating asset on the planet right now.  H200 has already superseded it and the new flagship processors B100 and B200 Blackwell are now announced and in production ramp.

A lack of fiduciary duty would be to take the processors, lock them in a room and let them devalue.

[nadir]

Does xAI have room and all the engineers ready to install the racks, the huge amounts of cabling, the comms, the air conditioning…We are talking about thousands of units. I thought xAI was basically a small 50-employee thing, while Tesla is a 500b AI-company, isnt it?

I don’t know, they may end in a warehouse just the same, but owned by xAI instead of Tesla. Or installed in xAI by Tesla engineers poached by xAI.

[NeilT]

Or they may go into a rented datacentre installed by contract staff on a one time contract.

The processors were split between X and Xai so you don't really know how many of each were installed.

What we do know is that since this decision Tesla is no longer compute constrained.  Which means Tesla got a large delivery of the processors.

There is a new datacentre being built in Texas but the problem is not supply of chips.  It is working out how to communicate the way synapses do in the brain.  This is currently the bottleneck.

[nadir]

The guys that constantly use the acronym FUD, that is Elon Cultists, Tesla bulls and so, have propagated the greatest FUD story for Tesla stock owners. Somehow Musk started this himself months ago, with his insinuations that he was uncomfortable not having 25% of shares in order to control the direction of Tesla AI.

So the FUD narrative goes:
You vote NO to the ratification of 2018 compensation for Elon -> Elon leaves the company -> Tesla doesn’t survive without Elon -> you lose all your money.

This may be correct, but the reason is because Tesla is not a solid focused company that would perfectly survive a CEO transition: Musk priorities and behavior since probably 2021 have made sure of this.

Tesla is clearly a house of cards sustained by a vaporware seller. Its chance of glory, if it was there,
went away because of Musk’s distractions and the equation Tesla=Musk (no one else governed Tesla).

This btw, is very much in line with the Delaware rule.

[NeilT]

This may be correct, but the reason is because Tesla is not a solid focused company that would perfectly survive a CEO transition: Musk priorities and behavior since probably 2021 have made sure of this.

Tesla is clearly a house of cards sustained by a vaporware seller. Its chance of glory, if it was there,
went away because of Musk’s distractions and the equation Tesla=Musk (no one else governed Tesla).

This btw, is very much in line with the Delaware rule.

This ignores the fact that without Elon and his management style Tesla would have died on the cross of trying to become the first mass market automotive company in the US to make it for 100 years.

It was the style of the CEO and his backing (call it control if you want), of the board, which made it possible.

Honestly I'm tired of it all.  Tesla needs to die and be replaced by something else because the Delaware courts are determined that it cannot transition to become what it needs to be.

[Sigmetnow]

NEWS: Elon Musk's x.AI is planning to build the most advanced supercomputer in the US in Memphis, Tennessee.
It’s being called the "Gigafactory of Compute.”
 
Elon Musk co. plans to build multibillion-dollar AI supercomputer in Memphis.
June 5

… The supercomputer project was being confirmed in a June 5 press conference held by the Greater Memphis Chamber. Sources told MBJ that the Chamber has been working to recruit the Musk operation to Memphis for months.

The multibillion-dollar supercomputer would be built by Musk's AI startup, California-based X.AI Corp.  Sources told MBJ that the project to place the xAI supercomputer in the Electrolux facility is expected to represent the largest investment, by dollar amount, in Memphis history. It is not certain how many jobs it would ultimately entail, though sources said it could be in the low to mid hundreds.

Musk entered the artificial intelligence (AI) race when he founded xAI less than a year ago. The company announced just over a week ago that it raised $6 billion in series B funding at a $24 billion valuation.

The tech news outlet The Information reported that Musk recently told xAI investors that he intends to build the supercomputer, which he referred to as a "gigafactory of compute." He wants the AI supercomputer to be online by fall 2025, and he said that he would hold himself personally responsible for hitting that deadline.
…

It is expected that most of xAI's investment spend would go toward the advanced equipment and supporting infrastructure required to build and maintain the supercomputer.

Musk reportedly told investors last month that, when completed, the AI supercomputer — in the form of a unified combination of 100,000 Nvidia H100 graphics processing units (GPUs) — would be at least four times the size of the most powerful GPU clusters built by competitors like Meta Platforms to train its own AI models. It is thought that the Memphis supercomputer would be used to train the next iteration of xAI's Grok chatbot product, which competes with OpenAI's ChatGPT, among others.

On June 2, Musk posted on X that the xAI "100k H100 liquid-cooled training cluster will be online in a few months. Next step would probably be [about] 300k B200s with CX8 networking next summer."

An analysis of that post by tech publication Wccftech noted that, "This means that xAI is about to spend a whopping $9 billion on acquiring around 300,000 units of the B200 GPU, assuming the company is able to negotiate a price point that is at the lowest end" of Nvidia's estimate that each GPU would cost $30,000 to $40,000.
…

If Musk's supercomputer project comes to fruition, it is expected to be the largest economic development investment in city history and one of the largest in state history. The reigning largest statewide is Ford Motor Co.'s $5.6 billion BlueOval City in West Tennessee, announced in 2021.
…

One significant ramification of the xAI project revolves around the massive amounts of electricity and water needed by supercomputers to effectively run and cool the high-tech hardware. Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) president and CEO Doug McGowen told MBJ that the utility and City of Memphis have been in discussions with xAI on the infrastructure needed to handle the project.

Young told MBJ that the process to land the project was rapid and could help the city's efforts to recruit other major economic development projects.

"Being home to this supercomputer furthers our narrative around our ability to innovate and create," Young said. "Obviously, having a supercomputer that's going to be leading in cutting-edge artificial intelligence and things that are going to move the world forward in the future — and Memphis being the hub for that innovation — is an important statement. As a community, we have demonstrated that we can move swiftly to get business done. In partnership with the Greater Memphis Chamber, MLGW, the City of Memphis — we've all worked really hard and fast to execute on this important project, and I believe that we will see more projects as a result."

https://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2024/06/05/xai-elon-musk-ai-supercomputer-electrolux-memphis.html

[Sigmetnow]

Jim Cramer on Tesla: “I’m not a seller of $TSLA. I think he (Elon) wins the vote, and the stock goes higher.”
6/4/24, 1:59 PM  https://x.com/sawyermerritt/status/1798051955417526289
 
➡️ pic.twitter.com/yXFlrXzj4T 5 sec.
 
Elon Musk
Uh oh 😅
6/4/24, 3:01 PM. https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1798067449495216464

 
“Inverse Cramer” alert! 😆

 —-
Herbert Ong
Tesla Cybertruck: Rapid Production Hitting 300 Units Per Day!!
w/ @TeslaLarry, who believes 80,000 CT’s this year is probable, and “they have a shot at 100,000.”
 
• Cybertruck production is ramping up, with 200 trucks delivered to Chicago and exceeding expected rates.
• Production rates are rapidly increasing, hitting up to 300 Cybertrucks/day
• Deliveries are expanding globally, with sightings in Germany, Korea, Japan, and France.
• Adding Full Self-Driving (FSD) could significantly increase Cybertruck sales, with potential applications in both personal use and robotaxi fleets.
• Predictions suggest annual US sales could reach 500,000 to 750,000 units, with potential for robotaxi services and other markets.
• The Cybertruck is gaining celebrity attention and featuring in various events and shows.
• Future features like wireless and inductive charging ports are being considered.
• Rail transport is expected to handle the increasing demand for Cybertruck distribution efficiently.
5/27/24, https://x.com/herbertong/status/1795096781447176374
 
➡️ pic.twitter.com/rBioz1qZT9   25 min. There will be stoppages to update the production lines, but very little manual assembly work is needed for the CT. They are still selling Foundation Series, haven’t moved to the less expensive models because they don’t need to.  Demand is still strong; people are still waiting for theirs.

—-
This is the moment Prince Albert II of Monaco knew the future has arrived
6/5/24, https://x.com/teslaconomics/status/1798394798191358030
 
➡️ pic.twitter.com/KjWVJvMBB6  30 sec. CT reveal in a courtyard of a Supercar show.

—-
No demand?

BREAKING : Was at the Tesla store yesterday trying to get a delivery date for my cyber and was told they have to deliver it next Thursday because the low interest rate promotion cause deliveries in Model Y to skyrocket. …
6/2/24, https://x.com/iliketeslas/status/1797373625328161134
< Yeah, when I was waiting in service there was a constant stream of y deliveries. There was never less than 2 people in line for completing paperwork.

—-
Tesla China ends May on a strong note with 15,200 new vehicle registrations
By Simon Alvarez June 4, 2024
https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-china-ends-may-15k-new-vehicle-registrations/

—-
Tesla China secures win in lawsuit against Model 3 “brake failure” protester
By Simon Alvarez May 31, 2024

Tesla China has secured a first trial win in its lawsuit against a Model 3 owner who conducted a dramatic protest at the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show. Ms. Zhang, the Model 3 owner in question, was ordered by the Shanghai Qingpu District People’s Court to apologize to the electric car maker and pay RMB 172,275 (over $23,000) in damages.
 
Tesla China’s win against Ms. Zhang represents a notable development in the three-year-old lawsuit. During the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, Ms. Zhang, wearing a shirt that read “Brake Failure,” climbed atop a Model 3 being showcased at the event and claimed that Tesla’s vehicles were faulty. The protest attracted international media coverage, and Tesla critics took the protest as proof that the company’s electric vehicles were indeed flawed.
…
Tesla, for its part, noted in its complaint against Ms. Zhang that her protest constituted defamation due to a lack of evidence. The court agreed with the electric vehicle maker, with the judgment stating that Ms. Zhang’s actions were rashly carried out without any objective basis to prove her brake failure claims. …

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-china-wins-lawsuit-model-3-brake-failure-protester/

—-
Joe Tegtmeyer 🚀 🤠🛸😎

Greetings from Tesla’s Lithium Plant near Corpus Christi! Huge amount of progress since my March video! The 1st of two parallel processing facilities is well underway, with the rotating kiln & cooler plus support infrastructure looking much more completed! The hydro metallurgical section with superstructure, tanks & more looks great too! The huge raw materials processing facility (for Spodumene Concentrate 6) steel structure is now ~60% erected & more development on other areas! …

6/3/24, https://x.com/joetegtmeyer/status/1797644735399559677
⬇️ 1 pic below, more at the thread.

[nadir]

Prince Albert of Monaco has always struck me as an asshole and a moron of the European Establishment. Seeing him bringing this aberration as the first Euro driver really confirms my bias.

https://monacolife.net/prince-albert-ii-takes-teslas-new-cybertruck-on-first-european-test-drive/

[jai mitchell]

cybertruck owners. . .  I . . . just. . . can't. . .

 

[nadir]

Tesla has removed the steering wheel nag in its latest FSD 12.4.1 version. The system now relies solely on the camera facing the driver to monitor attentiveness.

This will do👇

[John_the_Younger]

If I was the camera, I'd ding him for smugness.  'Don't want smug dummies drivers, now, do we! 

[kassy]

https://www.nu.nl/economie/6316070/noors-staatsfonds-keert-zich-tegen-megabeloning-voor-elon-musk.html

The Norwegian state investment fund is also opposed to Elons reward. It´s too big and dilutes the shares of the others.

[nadir]

The value of Tesla stock has remained flat for many days, and investors are somewhat expectant of the June 13 meeting. Retail investors do not have the same options as the Norway fund; they should vote ‘for’ . This way, the hype may continue, allowing them time to decide what to do with their high-risk $TSLA stocks.

As for FUD, I now understand what it is all about. Many Tesla investors are panicking after blindly following the hype, some having invested heavily, often near peak prices. Meanwhile, the TSLAQ group, as aggressive and distasteful as the fanatics but perhaps less deluded, are simply in it for the financial gain.

The spectacle that a speculative bubble creates is quite a show. I must admit, I am enjoying the drama and do not find myself empathizing with any of the parties involved. None of the teams support the original mission of Tesla, which I do respect. However, I believe Tesla has achieved its goal, placing BEVs on the map (albeit an imperfect and semi-functional concept). Well done, Mr. Musk (and it might be time to say farewell).

Note: I used chatGPT to correct my writing since my mother tongue is not English.

[Ranman99]

Look at markets today compared to the purpose of original capital markets. Today, we have bots and low-latency switches. It is a circus compared to raising capital for a good idea ;-) There are generations of investors addicted to gambling no better no worse. The house always wins.