Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk said he has no immediate plans to leave the top post since he wants to oversee the development of artificial intelligence software that will enable lucrative future products, such as autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots.
At the automaker's annual shareholders meeting Tuesday, an investor asked Musk about recent rumors that he may step down as CEO. "Please say it ain't so," the investor added.
Musk said, "It ain't so," to loud applause from Tesla shareholders in a question-and-answer session that capped the event. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Tesla board members had discussed company CFO Zach Kirkhorn as a possible successor to Musk.
At the shareholders meeting and in an interview after on CNBC, Musk touched on a variety of topics.
He said he expects the Cybertruck pickup launching this year to sell between 250,000 and 500,000 trucks per year, and he hinted at two future mass-market vehicles. He said Tesla would reverse its opposition to traditional advertising in response to requests from the investor community.