Over the past two months while Elon Musk has been in Washington, DC, Tesla shares have seen a sharp decline, falling by more than 40% in value. Around the world, protests and campaigns have erupted targeting Tesla, Musk and his involvement in the Trump White House. A wave of criminal incidents, including vandalism and arson, has hit Tesla electric vehicles, showrooms, and charging stations across both the U.S. and Europe, according to a report by CNBC.
During an all-hands meeting with Tesla employees on Thursday evening, Musk addressed these growing concerns, aiming to reassure the workforce and encourage them to “hang onto your stock.” Following the meeting, Tesla shares rose more than 5% on Friday, closing at $248.71.
Musk defends his vision for autonomous vehicles
“It’s very difficult like for people in the stock market, especially those that look in the rearview mirror — which is most people — to imagine a future where suddenly a 10 million vehicle fleet has five to ten times the usefulness,” Musk said, continuing to promote his long-held vision for autonomous vehicles. “It’s so profound and there’s no comparison with anything in the past that it does not compute. But it will compute in the future.”
Sales decline and trade uncertainty impact Tesla
Tesla has recently faced a dip in new vehicle sales across Europe and certain regions of the U.S. and China. The company is also dealing with trade uncertainties following several executive orders from President Trump, which have imposed tariffs on goods and materials from Canada, Mexico, and China—countries critical to Tesla’s supply chain. According to national car shopping site Edmunds, Tesla owners are now trading in their electric vehicles at record levels.
“If you read the news it feels like, you know, Armageddon,” Musk said during Thursday’s livestream. “It’s like, I can’t walk past the TV without seeing a Tesla on fire. Like what’s going on? Some people, it’s like listen, I understand if you don’t wanna buy our product, but you don’t have to burn it down. That’s a bit unreasonable.”
He then added, “This is psycho, stop being psycho!”
His remarks drew laughter from employees.
Musk devoted much of the meeting to highlighting Tesla’s innovations and technological ambitions.
“What’s the most exciting future that you could possibly imagine?” he asked rhetorically. He then described it as “a future of abundance for all,” one made possible by Tesla’s ongoing work on robotaxis, artificial intelligence, and robotics. He envisions a world “where you could literally just have anything you want.”
Model Y, Cybertruck and supply chain challenges
He also celebrated the Tesla Model Y, calling it a best-seller and predicting it would remain “the best-selling car on Earth again this year” and be “available worldwide.” He noted the Cybertruck’s success as the top-selling fully electric pickup, despite a major recall announced earlier that same day. Musk praised its 5-star crash safety rating and thanked employees for the refreshed Model Y, acknowledging the challenges of navigating supply chains across three continents to bring it to market, the report mentioned.
Musk also spoke enthusiastically about the upcoming Cybercab — a two-seater vehicle with no steering wheel or brakes — and reiterated his plan to upgrade Tesla EVs with robotaxi capabilities via a software update. It’s a vision he’s championed for years. Back in 2016, Musk claimed Tesla cars would complete a driverless cross-country journey by the end of 2018.
On Tesla’s most recent earnings call, Musk announced that a driverless ride-hailing service is set to launch in Austin, Texas, this June, utilizing Tesla’s existing vehicles with the company’s FSD, or “Full Self-Driving” software. Currently, this software still requires a driver to be ready to intervene.
Optimus robot: Tesla’s humanoid frontier
On Thursday, Musk said production of the Cybercab will take place in Austin, along with the company’s humanoid robot, Optimus. He added that the Optimus robot is currently being assembled at Tesla’s Fremont, California factory, with a target of producing 5,000 units this year.
Tesla faces growing competition in both the robotaxi and humanoid robotics markets. Alphabet’s Waymo is expanding its driverless ride-hailing services across U.S. cities, including a recent launch in Austin. Meanwhile, Chinese EV manufacturers such as Zeekr are rolling out alternatives to Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD systems as standard features.
Other robotics companies — including Apptronik, Boston Dynamics, and Unitree — are also moving to bring their humanoid robots to market. This week, Boston Dynamics, in partnership with RAI Institute, released a video showcasing their electric Atlas robot walking, running, crawling, and performing gymnastics.
Despite the competition, Musk maintains that Tesla’s Optimus is “the most sophisticated humanoid robot on Earth,” even if, for now, it’s still “learning to walk and catch balls” and is often operated manually during demonstrations.
Tesla employees, Musk said, will be the first to access the Optimus robot, likening it to characters from Star Wars.
“We will offer Optimus robots first to Tesla employees,” Musk said. “There are some pluses and minuses to that — probably have a few bugs. But it’s gonna be very cool.”