Senator Elizabeth Warren is pressing Tesla’s board to address concerns about CEO Elon Musk’s potential conflicts of interest arising from his involvement with multiple ventures, including SpaceX, xAI, Neuralink, and The Boring Company.
Key Points
- Senator’s Letter: Warren sent a detailed 10-page letter to Tesla Chairwoman Robyn Denholm on Thursday. She alleges that the board is not fulfilling its fiduciary duties to Tesla shareholders by overlooking Musk’s corporate entanglements.
- Previous Concerns: Warren has previously raised similar issues, including requests for investigations into Musk and Tesla by the SEC. She also criticized Musk’s sale of Tesla shares to finance his acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X.
Specific Issues Raised
- Conflicts of Interest: Warren’s letter outlines several concerns:
- Musk’s creation of xAI while Tesla promotes itself as an AI company.
- His threats to pursue robotics and AI outside Tesla unless granted more control within the company.
- A $5 billion Tesla investment into xAI and the redirection of Nvidia AI chips intended for Tesla to X.
- The poaching of Tesla employees by xAI and the departure of a Tesla director due to perceived internal governance issues.
Tesla’s Response
- No Comment: Tesla has yet to respond to Warren’s request for information. Previous letters from Warren have also gone unanswered.
Warren has requested answers to her queries by August 23.