Tesla CEO Elon Musk has opened a can of worms with a four-word post on X. On January 13, he posted, “That would be nice.” The message popped up while Tesla shareholders, fans, critics, and haters discussed the company on the social media platform. Two days later, Musk added more details and context to the discussion.
Background and Context is Important
Unlike mainstream media outlets suggesting Musk went on an unprompted compensation rant, the CEO was merely further explaining himself to shareholders. On the 13th, an X user expressed concerns about Musk's apparent lack of Tesla engagement. Amy (_SFTahoe) highlighted that Musk hasn’t had a new incentive plan since completing his 2018 compensation milestones in 2022. Amy argued for significant goals and rewards for Musk, underscoring that mere share ownership isn't enough motivation and that Musk deserves a plan that matches his contributions and ambitions in AI, automation, and space exploration. That is when Musk chimed in with the four words.
Two days later, Musk gave more details about his arrangement with Tesla. He expressed his discomfort with his current level of influence in the company. Musk stated his preference for approximately 25% voting control within Tesla, arguing that this level of influence is substantial but not overwhelming. He mentioned, "I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control. Enough to be influential, but not so much that I can’t be overturned." Vanguard controls more than 13% through its institutional and mutual fund holdings.
Holder
Shares
Date Reported
% Out
Value
Elon Musk
411,000,000
NA
13%
91,000,000,000 (est)
Vanguard Group Inc
225,940,011
Sep 29, 2023
7.11%
49,456,008,869
Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund
84,006,460
Sep 29, 2023
2.64%
18,388,173,978
Vanguard 500 Index Fund
66,358,271
Sep 29, 2023
2.09%
14,525,161,898
Vanguard Growth Index Fund
23,413,536
Sep 29, 2023
0.74%
5,124,988,880
Vanguard Institutional Index Fund-Institutional Index Fund
18,528,798
Sep 29, 2023
0.58%
4,055,768,582
Share Structure and Compensation
Musk, who owns about 13% of Tesla, said he would consider building products outside Tesla unless he secures the desired voting control. He suggested a dual-class share structure as a potential solution but noted the challenges of implementing such a system post-IPO in Delaware. Musk's posts indicated no ongoing feud with the Tesla board, which he praised, and mentioned the delay in establishing a new compensation plan due to the pending Delaware compensation case.
Musk's focus on AI and robotics is a significant part of Tesla's future direction. He has touted the company's advancements in these areas, including developing the humanoid robot Optimus. Musk believes that AI and robotics are integral to Tesla's value, even more so than its automotive segment.
The Financial and Legal Context
Musk's statements come amidst financial and legal challenges. He sold a significant portion of his Tesla shares in 2022 to finance his acquisition of Twitter, which he renamed X. This sale reduced his stake in Tesla and his voting power. Additionally, Musk is involved in a lawsuit in Delaware over his previous compensation package, which is under scrutiny for its size and the influence Musk had in securing it.
I should note that the Tesla board is great. The reason for no new “compensation plan” is that we are still waiting for a decision in my Delaware compensation case. The trial for that was held in 2022, but a verdict has yet to be made.
As Tesla awaits the decision in the Delaware compensation case, Musk's desire for increased voting control remains a central topic. The outcome of this case could influence the future structure of Tesla's leadership and Musk's role in the company. With the Q4 earnings report approaching, Tesla's strategic direction in AI and robotics and Musk's influence will be scrutiny.
Moving Forward
Musk's efforts to balance his various roles at Tesla, SpaceX, and X continue to be a point of discussion. His leadership style, often characterized by ambitious goals and unconventional approaches, has both been praised and criticized in the public and financial spheres.
Despite focusing on voting control and compensation, Musk's ambition for Tesla goes beyond financial incentives. His vision for Tesla involves significant advancements in AI and robotics, aiming to position the company at the forefront of technological innovation. This perspective aligns with Musk's broader goals of advancing human progress through technology.
Yesterday, we reported that Tesla updated their Steam integration on Model S and Model X vehicles. The update was part of their 2024 Holiday Update, but it looks like there may be more to this than a simple update.
Steam, a video game library app, makes it easy for users to buy or launch games on their computers. However, a couple of years ago, Valve, who created Steam, launched their own standalone device, the Steam Deck. The Steam Deck runs a custom OS based on Linux.
Steam Launch
When Tesla launched the redesigned Model S and Model X, Tesla introduced a dedicated gaming GPU with 16GB of RAM and touted the ability to play top-tier PC games in Tesla vehicles.
In 2022, Tesla finally launched the Steam app for the Model S and Model X as part of its 2022 Holiday Update. The Steam app runs Steam OS, the same OS as the Steam Deck in a virtual environment.
However, earlier this year, Tesla stopped including the GPU and Steam (Beta) in their vehicles, and we haven’t seen any updates to the Steam in quite some time. In fact, we thought Tesla was axing their gaming-on-the-go dreams.
SteamOS Update
The Steam app, which is still in Beta, is getting an interesting update for the Model S and Model X vehicles with the discrete GPU.
Those vehicles received an update to SteamOS 3.6 - the same version of SteamOS that runs on the Steam Deck. While nothing has visually changed, there’s a long list of performance optimizations under the hood to get things running smoother.
Comparing Steam Deck to Tesla Vehicles
Let’s take a look at the Steam Deck - according to Valve, its onboard Zen4 CPU and GPU combined push a total of 2 TFlops of data, which is fairly respectable, but much lower than today’s home consoles. The Steam Deck is capable of 720p gaming fairly seamlessly on low-to-medium settings on the go and is also built on the AMD platform.
AMD-equipped Teslas, including the Model 3 and Model Y, are packing an older Zen+ (Zen 1.5) APU (processor with a combined CPU and GPU). AMD claims that the V1000 - the same embedded chip as on AMD Tesla vehicles (YE1807C3T4MFB), brings up to 3.6 TFLops of processing power with it, including 4K encoding and decoding with the integrated GPU on board.
While that’s not enough for 4K gaming or comparable to a full-blown console or desktop GPU, that’s enough raw horsepower for light gaming and is currently more powerful than the Steam Deck.
The Model S and Model X’s GPU brings that up to about 10TFlops of power - comparable to modern consoles like the Xbox Series X at 12 TFlops.
Steam Gaming for All Vehicles?
The fact that Tesla is updating SteamOS even though the feature is no longer available in any new vehicles could indicate that Tesla is not only bringing Steam back to Teslas but that it’s going to play a much bigger role.
While SteamOS is run in a virtual environment on top of Tesla’s own OS, we could see Tesla bring SteamOS to all of its current vehicles, including the Model 3, Model Y, and Cybertruck. Steam in these vehicles would likely support any game that’s capable of running on the Steam Deck.
We think this Steam update, which includes performance improvements and a variety of fixes, has quietly passed under most people’s radars. This could be a very exciting update for those who enjoy gaming, especially for those who love to do it in their Tesla.
As part of Tesla’s 2024 Holiday Update, Tesla included two awesome new features - Weather at Destination and the long-awaited Weather Radar Overlay. These two features are big upgrades built upon the weather feature that was added in update 2024.26. The original weather feature added an hourly forecast, as well as the chance of precipitation, UV index, Air Quality Index, and other data.
However, this update also added some smaller weather touches, such as the vehicle alerting you if the weather at the destination will be drastically different from the current weather.
Not a Tesla App
Weather At Destination
When you’re navigating to a destination and viewing the full navigation direction list, the text under the arrival time will show you the expected weather next to your destination. You can also tap this, and the full weather pop-up will show up, showing your destination's full set of weather information.
Note the weather under the arrival time
Not a Tesla App
You can also tap the weather icon at the top of the interface at any time and tap Destination to switch between the weather at your current location and the weather at your destination.
You’re probably considering that the weather at your destination doesn’t matter when you’re three hours away - but that’s all taken into account by the trip planner. It will add in both charge time and travel time and show you the weather at your destination at your expected arrival time.
And if the weather is drastically different or inclement, such as rain or snow, while you’ve got sunshine and rainbows - the weather will be shown above the destination ETA for a few moments before it tucks itself away.
Tesla also recently introduced a new voice command. Asking, “What’s the weather?” or something similar will now bring up Tesla’s weather popup.
The weather pop-up above the ETA
Not a Tesla App
One limitation, though—if you’re planning a long road trip that is more than a day of driving, the weather at destination feature won’t be available until you get closer.
Weather Radar Overlay
As part of the improvements to weather, Tesla has also added a radar overlay for precipitation. You can access the new radar overlay by tapping the map and then tapping the weather icon on the right side of the map. It’ll bring up a radar overlay centered on your vehicle. It’ll animate through the radar data over the last 3 hours so that you can see the direction of the storm, but you can also pause it at any point.
You’re able to scroll around in this view and see the weather anywhere, even if you zoom out. It also works while you’re driving, although it can be a little confusing if you’re trying to pay attention to the navigation system. If you like to have Points of Interest enabled on your map, the weather overlay will hide POIs except for Charging POIs.
Requirements / Data
Unfortunately, you’ll need Premium Connectivity for any of the weather features to work, and being on WiFi or using a hotspot will not be enough to get the data to show up. The data, including the weather radar, is provided by The Weather Channel.
As for supported models, weather and weather at destination are available on all vehicles except for the 2012-2020 Model S and Model X. The weather radar has more strict requirements and requires the newer AMD Ryzen-powered infotainment center available on the 2021+ Model S and Model X and more recent Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
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