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Elon Musk responds to Tesla’s $400m armored EV contract with U.S. govt

Credit: Elon Musk/X

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has responded to the news that the automaker would be awarded a $400 million contract from the U.S. Department of State to supply the U.S. government with armored electric vehicles.

Yesterday, we reported that according to the U.S. Department of State’s Procurement List for 2025, Tesla was set to win a $400 million contract to supply the government with armored EVs — most ideally, the Cybertruck would be used.

Tesla projected to win $400M Dept. of State contract for armored EVs

The expenditure was listed in the public list and was added by the previous White House as former President Joe Biden was still in office when Tesla was added to the list.

The list does not guarantee that a contract will be awarded, but it does show the Department of State’s “anticipated contract” offerings.

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In a short 20 hours since the story was reported, a lot has changed.

First, the Department of State updated the list to remove Tesla’s name from the line where it listed the award, meaning it was either a mistake or a response to potential pushback the public might have.

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Considering Musk’s position at the post of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), it is understandable that some might have a problem with the contract if it were to be awarded.

Secondly, Musk has responded to claims that the contract was intended on being awarded to Tesla, as he said:

“I’m pretty sure Tesla isn’t getting $400m. No one mentioned it to me, at least.”

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There are still plans to launch a government fleet of both armored and plain EVs. Who will win those contracts and be awarded the opportunity to provide them is still up in the air.

Tesla is in a prime position to win those contracts because of its focus on domestic manufacturing and sourcing. In the U.S., Tesla’s Model Y was the most American vehicle, the Cars.com study showed. The Model S was fourth, the Model X was ninth, and the Model 3 was 21st.

The Cybertruck was disqualified from the list due to its gross weight.

Tesla also has the production capacity and a proven track record of fulfilling it, something else that will be a necessity with President Trump in the White House.

Other carmakers could potentially be in the running, but they will need to show their ability to handle manufacturing the fleet that the government could ultimately buy.

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Please email me with questions and comments at joey@teslarati.com. I’d love to chat! You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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Elon Musk

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey endorses Elon Musk Tesla pay package

Dorsey framed the pay package as an engineering and governance crossroads for Tesla.

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Twitter co-founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey has publicly backed Elon Musk’s leadership ahead of Tesla’s pivotal shareholder vote, which is expected to be decided later today at the company’s 2025 annual meeting. 

Dorsey framed the pay package as an engineering and governance crossroads for Tesla.

Dorsey’s public nod framed as an engineering defense of Musk

In a post on X, Dorsey weighed in on Tesla’s post about being in a “critical inflection point.” As per the Twitter-co-founder, the vote on Musk’s 2025 performance award is not about compensation. Instead, it’s about ensuring the path for the company’s engineering in the coming years. 

“This is not about compensation. it’s about ensuring a principled (and exciting!) engineering approach to the company’s future,” Dorsey wrote on his post, later stating that users of Cash app with TSLA shares would be able to vote for the CEO’s proposed 2025 performance award. 

Elon Musk appreciated Dorsey’s endorsement, responding to the Twitter co-founder’s post with a heart emoji. Musk has been pretty thankful for the support for is fellow tech executives, also thanking Michael Dell recently, who also advocated for its proposed 2025 performance award.

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Musk’s support

While Elon Musk’s 2025 performance award has received opposition from proxy advisors such as Glass Lewis and ISS, it has received quite a lot of support from longtime bulls such as ARK Invest, and, more recently, Schwab Asset Management following calls from TSLA retail shareholders. 

“Schwab Asset Management’s approach to voting on proxy matters is thorough and deliberate. We utilize a structured process that focuses on protecting and promoting shareholder value. We apply our own internal guidelines and do not rely on recommendations from Glass Lewis or ISS. In accordance with this process, Schwab Asset Management intends to vote in favor of the 2025 CEO performance award proposal. We firmly believe that supporting this proposal aligns both management and shareholder interests, ensuring the best outcome for all parties involved,” Charles Schwab told Teslarati.

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Elon Musk

Tesla teases new AI5 chip that will revolutionize self-driving

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Credit: Tesla

Elon Musk revealed new information on Tesla’s AI5, previously known as Hardware 5, chip, for self-driving, which will be manufactured by both Samsung and TSMC.

The AI5 chip is Tesla’s next-generation hardware chip for its self-driving program, Optimus humanoid robots, and other AI-driven features in both vehicles and other applications. It will be the successor to the current AI4, previously known as Hardware 4, which is currently utilized in Tesla’s newest vehicles.

Elon Musk reveals Tesla’s HW5 release date, and that it won’t be called HW5

AI5 is specially optimized for Tesla use, as it will work alongside the company’s Neural Networks to focus on real-time inference to make safe and logical decisions during operation. It was first teased by Tesla in mid-2024 as Musk called it “an amazing design” and “an immense jump” from the current AI4 chip.

It will be roughly 4o times faster, have 8 times the raw compute, 9 times the memory capacity, 5 times the memory bandwidth, and 3 times the efficiency per watt.

It will be manufactured by both TSMC and Samsung at their Arizona and Texas fab locations, respectively.

Here’s what Musk revealed about the chip yesterday:

Different Versions

Samsung and TSMC will make slightly different versions of the AI5 chip, “simply because they translate designs to physical form differently.” However, Musk said the goal is that its AI software would work identically.

This was a real concern for some who are familiar with chip manufacturing, as Apple’s A9 “Chipgate” saga seemed to be echoing through Tesla.

Back in 2015, it was found that Apple’s A9 chips had different performances based on who manufactured them. TSMC and Samsung were both building the chips, but it was found that Samsung’s chips had shorter battery life than TSMC-fabricated versions.

Apple concluded that the variance was about 2-3 percent. However, Tesla will look to avoid this altogether.

Release and Implementation into Vehicles

Musk said that some samples will be available next year, and “maybe a small number of units” would equip the chip as well. However, high-volume production is only possible in 2027.

This means, based on Tesla’s own timeline for Cybercab production in Q2 2026, early iterations of the vehicle would rely on AI4. Many believe AI4 can be utilized for solved self-driving, but the power of subsequent versions, including AI5 and beyond, will be more capable.

AI6 and Beyond

AI6 will utilize the same fabs as AI5, but there would be a theoretical boost in performance by two times with this version.

AI6 could enter volume production by mid-2028. However, AI7, which Musk only briefly mentioned, “will need different fabs, as it is more adventurous.”

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Tesla gets big nod on Musk comp package from Charles Schwab

“Schwab Asset Management’s approach to voting on proxy matters is thorough and deliberate. We utilize a structured process that focuses on protecting and promoting shareholder value.”

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla got a big nod of approval on CEO Elon Musk’s newly-proposed compensation package from Wall Street firm Charles Schwab after many shareholders believed the company was aiming to go against the new pay structure for its frontman.

Yesterday, we reported on many Tesla investors threatening to leave Charles Schwab as their broker after it was assumed the firm would vote against Musk’s pay package. The impression was that Schwab would utilize the same voting strategies as Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which both said they would vote against the new compensation package.

However, Schwab reached out to TESLARATI directly yesterday to confirm that it had not made any statement on which way it would vote. It then confirmed to us that it would vote to support Musk’s pay package:

The statement to TESLARATI said:

“Schwab Asset Management’s approach to voting on proxy matters is thorough and deliberate. We utilize a structured process that focuses on protecting and promoting shareholder value. We apply our own internal guidelines and do not rely on recommendations from Glass Lewis or ISS. In accordance with this process, Schwab Asset Management intends to vote in favor of the 2025 CEO performance award proposal. We firmly believe that supporting this proposal aligns both management and shareholder interests, ensuring the best outcome for all parties involved.”

Schwab also came out with a new statement just after that would be released to the public, stating that its delayed decision on the compensation package was due to its “structured process that focuses on protecting and promoting shareholder value.”

The firm uses a three-step program to determine its decision on a key vote like this one:

  1. board composition and quality
  2. actions a board has taken to drive strategy, deliver performance and manage relevant risks
  3. clarity and accessibility of reporting on key issues

It then said it applies its own internal guidelines and does not rely on recommendations from other firms, like Glass Lewis or ISS.

It continued:

“In accordance with this process, Schwab Asset Management intends to vote in favor of the 2025 CEO performance award proposal. We firmly believe that supporting this proposal aligns both management and shareholder interests, ensuring the best outcome for all parties involved.”

Charles Schwab then received kudos from the Tesla community on their decision to vote for Musk to receive this compensation package.

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