Elon Musk has never been short on bold claims or controversy. But his latest remarks may be his most bizarre yet. During Tesla’s Q3 2025 shareholder call, Musk told investors that he wants more control over Tesla to ensure he can manage a future “robot army.” Yes, he actually said those words. The statement comes as Musk pushes for shareholder approval of a massive $1 trillion compensation package, a move that would cement his influence over Tesla for the next decade despite falling earnings and investor backlash.
Tesla is in the middle of a heated shareholder vote one that could hand Elon Musk a trillion-dollar payout while diluting the value and voting power of existing investors. The company’s performance has been shaky, with profits down 40% in a year that should have been record-breaking. Yet, Musk insists the astronomical pay package isn’t about money, but control especially over Tesla’s artificial intelligence and robotics projects.
My fundamental concern with regard to how much money and control I have at Tesla is if I go ahead and build this enormous robot army, can I just be ousted at some point in the future? Um, that’s my biggest concern, that is really the only thing Im trying to address with this… what’s called compensation but it’s not like I’m gonna go spend the money, it’s just if we build this robot army do I have at least a strong influence over that robot army? Not control but a strong influence.
– Elon Musk, Tesla Q3 shareholder conference call, October 22, 2025
He claims he “doesn’t feel comfortable building AI” without having more control over the company, arguing that his current 13% ownership stake isn’t enough. Musk believes 25% would give him “strong influence” not full control, he insists over Tesla’s direction. However, critics point out that this power grab could have been avoided had Musk not sold massive amounts of Tesla stock to finance his troubled Twitter (now X) acquisition, which drained billions and tarnished his reputation.
On the October 22 shareholder call, Musk said the quiet part out loud: “My fundamental concern with regard to how much money and control I have at Tesla is if I go ahead and build this enormous robot army, can I just be ousted at some point in the future? … If we build this robot army, do I have at least a strong influence over that robot army? Not control but a strong influence.”
Musk appeared to catch himself mid-sentence, swapping “control” for “strong influence,” but the slip was telling. For years, Musk has warned of the existential dangers of AI, positioning himself as a reluctant guardian of humanity. This time, however, his focus wasn’t on AI safety it was on who gets to command his so-called “robot army.”
The “army” in question is Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot. While Musk touts Optimus as a technological breakthrough, much of what’s been shown so far is underwhelming including staged demonstrations and teleoperated prototypes. Videos of the robots performing martial arts or handling popcorn have raised more questions than confidence. Yet Musk has previously suggested that billions of these robots could one day work for humans or for him, if he gets his way.
Beyond the robotics rhetoric, Musk’s comments took a darker turn when he lashed out at ISS (Institutional Shareholder Services) and Glass Lewis, two major shareholder advisory firms that have recommended against his pay package.
“Those guys are corporate terrorists,” Musk fumed. “If you’ve got passive funds deferring responsibility for the vote to Glass Lewis and ISS, then you can have extremely disastrous consequences for a publicly traded company.”
His rant was apparently a reaction to ISS and Glass Lewis’s critical analyses of his previous $55 billion pay deal, which courts ruled illegal. Those reports argued that Musk’s outsized compensation undermines shareholder rights.
Meanwhile, Musk’s political behavior has become a major liability for Tesla. His public support for extremist figures and inflammatory gestures have sparked protests, boycotts, and plummeting sales in key markets like the UK, Germany, and Australia. Despite these setbacks, Musk continues to assert that more personal control over Tesla will somehow secure its future — or at least his own dominance over its AI ambitions.
He even joked (or perhaps half-admitted) the limits of his self-awareness: “I want more voting control, but not so much that I can’t be fired if I go insane.”
Given recent events, many shareholders might argue that threshold has already been crossed.