Elon Musk took the stage at Tesla’s annual shareholders meeting on Thursday night, making several big claims and promises about the company’s future. He announced that Tesla is “almost comfortable” with owners using Full Self-Driving (FSD) to “text and drive.” Right now, Tesla cars closely monitor drivers to ensure their eyes stay on the road. However, Musk believes Tesla will roll out unsupervised FSD, allowing texting and driving, within “a month or two.”
Currently, Tesla’s FSD offers level 2 autonomous driving. Musk promises at least level 4 capabilities very soon. This means the car would handle all driving tasks, freeing the driver to disengage. He mentioned looking at safety data first, but didn’t go into detail about how they would enable texting while driving or discuss the legal aspects with regulators.
Musk also discussed the Cybercab, Tesla’s robotaxi. He said production of these vehicles will begin by April next year. The Cybercab will not have pedals, a steering wheel, or even side mirrors because Tesla designs it specifically for full autonomy. Musk explained that the Cybercab’s production process differs greatly from typical car manufacturing, more like making phones. Because of this, he thinks Tesla can produce one unit every 10 seconds.
The much-talked-about flying car also came up. Musk had previously teased this idea on Joe Rogan’s show. When asked at the event, he updated the demo date to April 1, 2026, pushing it back from his earlier timeline. Whether this is an April Fools’ joke remains to be seen, but Musk claimed that production of Tesla’s flying vehicle would begin about a year after its reveal. As always, people should take Musk’s timelines with a grain of salt, as he often sets very ambitious goals.
While Musk shared Tesla’s plans, an Optimus humanoid robot stood nearby. The CEO declared Optimus would become the “biggest product of all time,” surpassing cellphones and “anything else.” Tesla plans to start with a production line for 1 million units, then 10 million, eventually hoping to make 100 million to a billion Optimus robots annually. He pictured a future in which these humanoid machines provide medical care and even track criminals to prevent further crimes, rather than jailing them.
