Tesla’s Core Mission Shifts In The Musk 4.0 Era — Smart Or Not? – CleanTechnica

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On Tuesday, the S&P 500 and Dow were trading lower. It seemed as if Wall Street was in a holding pattern as everyone awaited the earnings report from Nvidia, the leader in artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Then global stock markets rose as Nvidia eased anxieties about potential overinvestment in AI. AI technology has become pivotal to stock market measurements of success, it seems. Elon Musk 4.0 has been repeating this point for months — he insists, with the evolution of AI computing, Tesla can reinvent itself from an electric car maker into an AI company.

The new Tesla mantra states that a combination of manufacturing and autonomous capabilities sets it apart from other companies.

In its Master Plan 4 iteration, the company says, “We are building the products and services that bring AI into the physical world.” An integrated ecosystem of sustainable products, from transport to energy generation, battery storage and robotics, can introduce “a revolutionary period primed for unprecedented growth” for Tesla. By unifying its hardware and software at scale, Tesla says it is not only “creating a safer, cleaner, and more enjoyable world,” it is also inviting “sustainable abundance.”

Tesla’s Goal to Achieve Sustainable Abundance

The World Economic Form defines the concept of “sustainable abundance” as a challenge between traditional tradeoffs of economic growth and environmental sustainability.

• It emphasizes the necessity of meeting current needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet theirs.
• Economic activities must reduce their environmental impacts while making essential resources accessible and affordable for all.
• Integrating diverse human desires — survival, prosperity, and environmental preservation — into a harmonious strategy is essential.

All of these demand leadership and collective commitment to innovate and drive toward a balanced and inclusive future. Tesla’s interpretation of this is to direct the company’s future to technology, robotics, and renewable energy. All of which will, according to the new Tesla narrative, ultimately converge to eliminate scarcity and make goods and services universally accessible.

Musk went so far as to explain what sustainable abundance means to him.

How about a future where you can have any good or service you want, at will? A future of abundance for all — where really anyone can have anything. It sounds impossible. It sounds like surely such a thing cannot be the case. But what I’m here to tell you is: that will indeed be the case.

Tesla’s innovative products and services will integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into the physical world and create infinite growth. One company sector need not decline in favor of another, because Tesla innovation will drive new opportunities. Such advances become ways to democratize advanced technology and, subsequently, raise the quality of life for all — Tesla style.

Will Robotaxi Trips Become Part of Tesla’s Future Profitability?

Several current items are part of the Tesla quest to achieve sustainable abundance. One is the robotaxi. Tesla has obtained a “transportation network company” permit to operate a ride-hailing service in Arizona. Additional permits will be required before Tesla can operate a robotaxi service in Arizona.

Already, Tesla uses AI to teach its cars self-driving techniques so humans will become mere passengers. Tesla plans to take human safety drivers out of its cars in Austin before the end of this year. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website, Tesla cars equipped with automated driving systems were involved in seven reported collisions following the launch of the company’s pilot in Texas. Is that good enough to remove the human safety drivers?

At the company’s 2025 shareholder meeting earlier this month, Musk said the “killer app” for self-driving technology is when people can text and drive, or sleep and drive. “Before we allow the car to be driven without paying attention, we need to make sure it’s very safe,” Musk said. “We’re on the cusp of that. I know I’ve said that a few times. We really are at this point.”

Robotics vs. Human Workers: Employee Stock Pool

The introduction of robotics makes human workers and their compensation an important topic of Tesla conversation. With stock-based compensation, the company often either grants shares of stock to employees or gives them the option to buy stock at a discounted price (usually the market value at the time of the grant). Stock grants often come as restricted stock that cannot be sold for a specified time period, the “vesting period.” After the stock vests, the employee can freely sell the shares.

Tesla Cair Robyn Denholm wrote after the Q3 2025 earnings report that the company has set aside a “special share reserve” for Musk: an “Interim Award” of $26 billion. To create this, Tesla’s employee stock option pool had been drained in the past; the fund was an incentive to compensate employees and attract new talent. Proposal 3 combines the employee share with 208 million allocated “special” shares worth $97 billion, all of which would go to Elon Musk. This package raises his total ownership to approximately 29% of the company’s shares.

Musk’s equity compensation package is a restricted stock grant of 423,743,904 shares of Tesla’s common stock, which is 12% of the adjusted share count. This contrasts with Musk’s previous 2018 equity plan, which gave him an option to buy stock at a discounted price. A package of this size shifts substantial wealth from shareholders to Musk.

Hopkins and Lazonick argue on the Institute for New Economic Thinking newsletter that “Musk is terrified that Tesla’s institutional shareholders, who own two-thirds of Tesla’s shares, may cast their votes for directors nominated by a shareholder activist. The re-aligned board of directors could then fire Musk.” They also add that Tesla employees, “upon whose labor Tesla’s productive performance relies,” are constantly wary that mercurial Musk will erratically “wield his executive might.” Instead, the authors conclude that Musk and all Tesla employees should be paid for how they build and sustain the company’s innovation while holding onto its top standing in global EV markets and its growing energy storage business.

Musk’s Optimus would eventually represent 80% of the value of Tesla if his vision is realized. A fully functioning AI robot opens up limitless labor supply — constrained only by cost and resources to make it — creating an exponential boost for its business. Where exactly do the robots fit into the new Musk 4.0 schema? Time will tell.