Tesla CEO Elon Musk kicked off the new year by springing several eye-popping surprises on shareholders, including a $2 billion Tesla investment in one of his own companies (the artificial intelligence firm xAI), and the abrupt elimination of two of Tesla’s car models, the Model S and the Model X.
The moves, remarkable even in the context of Musk’s unfettered management style, underscore the profound transformation underway at the carmaker as it loses ground in the EV market to Chinese rivals. In place of the discontinued car models, Musk said that Tesla will use the freed-up factory space to build Optimus robots, a still largely experimental line of humanoid robots that Musk says will eventually perform everything from household chores to surgery.
