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Tesla Inc.’s (TSLA) AI lead, Ashok Elluswamy, on Thursday urged investors of the EV giant to vote in favor of CEO Elon Musk’s $1 trillion pay package.
In a post on X, Elluswamy reiterated that Musk is a key driver of Tesla’s AI and autonomy efforts. He added that Musk alone possesses the skills and instincts across various domains, including AI, robotics, engineering design, and manufacturing, among others.
“Tesla is at a critical juncture, as it is metamorphosing into the world leader in robotics. Creating large-scale, useful robots requires expertise across engineering design, manufacturing, real-world AI software, chips for AI, and more. Elon is, quite likely, the only person on Earth with deep skills and the right instincts across all these domains.”
— Ashok Elluswamy, AI Lead, Tesla

Tesla shares were down nearly 4% in Thursday’s midday trade. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the company trended in the ‘bearish’ territory at the time of writing.
Elluswamy added that voting in favor of Musk’s $1 trillion pay proposal would help in bringing “extraordinary prosperity” to the world.
Earlier this week, Tesla Chair Robyn Denholm warned that the EV giant could lose Musk if the pay package were not approved. In a letter to shareholders, the Tesla board chair said that Musk was key to the company’s future.
“Without Elon, Tesla could lose significant value, as our company may no longer be valued for what we aim to become,” Denholm said in the letter.
The letter comes at a time when proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services has publicly opposed Musk’s $1 trillion pay package. At the same time, a group of unions and corporate watchdogs launched a website named ‘Take Back Tesla’ to urge shareholders to vote against the package.
Tesla shareholders will decide on Musk’s compensation during the annual shareholders meeting on Nov. 6, 2025.
The company has set up a website to assist investors in voting on the proposal. Investors have the option to vote online through their brokerage, via a QR code, by phone, or by mail.
TSLA stock is up 10% year-to-date and 73% in the past 12 months.
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