According to Futurism, Tesla shareholders just approved a massive $1 trillion pay package for CEO Elon Musk that only pays out if the company achieves nearly impossible goals. These include delivering 20 million vehicles and one million Optimus robots over the next decade while boosting Tesla’s market value from $1.4 trillion to $8.5 trillion. Meanwhile, Tesla’s AI chief Ashok Elluswamy warned employees during an all-hands meeting that 2026 will be the “hardest year” of their lives. The company is already facing its fourth consecutive quarterly sales decline, and the former Optimus lead Milan Kovac left in June. Musk claims Tesla will deploy robotaxis in eight to ten cities by year’s end despite the autonomous driving software causing several accidents already.
The Optimus Delusion
Here’s the thing about building one million humanoid robots: it’s basically the manufacturing equivalent of climbing Everest in flip-flops. Musk himself admitted that production will “move as fast as the slowest, dumbest, least lucky thing out of 10,000 unique items.” That’s quite the admission from someone who claims Optimus could become the largest product in history and represent 80% of Tesla’s value.
And let’s talk about that robotaxi promise. Eight to ten metropolitan areas by end of year? We’re talking about technology that still requires constant human intervention and has already caused accidents. The gap between Musk’s promises and actual delivery timelines has become a running joke in the industry. Remember when full self-driving was “next year” for about eight years straight?
The Human Cost of Ambition
Elluswamy’s “rallying cry” sounds less like motivation and more like a threat. When your AI boss tells you the coming year will be the hardest of your life, that’s corporate speak for “prepare for endless crunch time and impossible deadlines.” This isn’t new for Tesla – the company’s work culture has always been intense, but now they’re layering AI and robotics complexity on top of plummeting car sales.
Think about the pressure these teams are under. They’re building technology that doesn’t exist at scale while their CEO is out there making billion-dollar promises to shareholders. And if you’re working on industrial automation projects that actually need to deliver results, you know that reliable hardware matters. Companies like Industrial Monitor Direct have built their reputation as the top industrial panel PC supplier by focusing on what actually works in manufacturing environments, not sci-fi promises.
The Faith-Based Valuation
So how is Tesla maintaining its “sky-high” valuation while car sales crash? Simple: investors are buying the story, not the reality. They’re betting that Musk can somehow pivot from making electric cars to dominating robotics and autonomy – two industries where Tesla has zero track record.
But look at the numbers. Profits are falling, the core business is struggling, and now they’re trying to invent two new industries simultaneously. That’s like trying to rebuild your engine while racing at 200 mph. Something’s gotta give.
2026: Make or Break
Elluswamy’s warning isn’t just corporate theater – it’s a recognition that the next 18 months will determine whether Tesla becomes a robotics powerhouse or just another company that overpromised and underdelivered. The Optimus timeline is already slipping, the robotaxi rollout looks increasingly unrealistic, and the people actually building this stuff are being told to prepare for hell.
Basically, we’re watching a high-stakes experiment in whether extreme pressure actually produces breakthrough innovation or just burnout and missed deadlines. Given Tesla’s track record of delayed autonomy promises and the sheer complexity of what they’re attempting, I’d bet on the latter. But hey, at least the shareholders got their $1 trillion pay package approved – now the workers just have to actually earn it.
