"Tesla owners can share their cars like Airbnb"

"Instead of leaving your car parked, your car can make money for you"

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced plans to launch a fully autonomous robotaxi (driverless taxi) service by the end of June. On May 20 (local time), in an interview with U.S. business media outlet CNBC, Musk said, "We are currently testing autonomous driving with thousands of vehicles in Austin," adding, "It looks like things will go well in Austin next month."

He said, "We need to operate as cautiously as possible in the beginning," explaining, "We could start with 1,000 vehicles on the first day, but that would not be cautious. In the first week, we will start with 10 vehicles, then gradually increase to 20, 30, and 40, and I think we will reach 1,000 within a few months." He continued, "After that, we will expand to other cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles in California, and San Antonio in Texas," adding, "By the end of next year, hundreds of thousands or even over a million Teslas are expected to be operating autonomously in the United States." He also emphasized the need for unified federal regulations on autonomous vehicles.

Tesla logo and Elon Musk. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

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When the host asked, 'Will all Tesla owners be able to experience Level 4?meaning a stage with no driver intervention?through a software update?' Musk CEO replied, "Yes," and said, "We will create a model similar to a combination of Uber and Airbnb." He further explained, "If you are a Tesla owner, you can add or remove your car from the pool (of shared vehicles), and like Airbnb, you can lend it to others when you are not using it," adding, "Instead of leaving your car parked, your car can make money for you."

Meanwhile, prior to this, Musk attended the Qatar Economic Forum held in Doha, Qatar via video call and said regarding his political activities, "I will significantly reduce political spending," adding, "I think I have done enough." Musk had publicly declared his support for candidate Trump during the last U.S. presidential election and donated 250 million dollars (approximately 348.5 billion KRW).

Musk, the CEO, addressed the terrorism targeting Tesla owners due to his political activities, saying, "Enormous violence has been committed against me and my company," and continued, "Who are these people, and why did they do this? Damaging someone else's car and threatening to kill me is evil. They should go to jail. We will come after you," he said emphatically.

The interview host, Mishal Husain of Bloomberg, questioned Musk about conflicts of interest during his tenure as Secretary of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), as well as controversies over the Trump administration's reduction of foreign aid. When the host asked, "How often do you speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin?" Musk replied, "I do not speak with President Putin. I only had a video call with him five years ago."

When Musk then asked, "Why do you think I talk to President Putin?" the host referred to a report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) covering the related suspicions. Musk responded by expressing his displeasure, saying, "WSJ is the worst publication on Earth." He continued, "All I did was post something about President Putin on X (formerly Twitter)," and called it a typical lie of 'legacy media.'

When asked, "Will you still be CEO of Tesla in five years?" he answered, "Yes," adding, "As long as I don't die." Regarding concerns about a decline in Tesla's sales, he countered, "We have turned things around," explaining, "We have already recovered sales volume, and demand is strong everywhere except Europe."