News

By Andrew Mills and Federico Maccioni

DOHA (Reuters) -Elon Musk said he plans to significantly cut political spending and is committed to staying on as Tesla's CEO for another five years, aiming to address concerns about balancing his role at the automaker with his involvement in the Trump administration.

Musk's comments could have large implications for next year's mid-term elections as he has been a Republican political mega donor. He helped Donald Trump get elected as U.S. President with a quarter of a billion dollars in donations and set up the administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he is leading.

"In terms of political spending, I'm gonna do a lot less in the future. I think I've done enough," Musk said on Tuesday at an economic forum in Qatar.

The close involvement has given rise to doubts about his focus on the world's most valuable automaker in recent months.

Having reasonable control of Tesla was the most important factor in staying on as CEO, Musk said. He owns about 13% of the automaker.

"Yes, no doubt about that at all," Musk said in response to a question on whether he planned to stick around as Tesla CEO.

Musk said last year he was uncomfortable growing Tesla as an AI and robotics leader without having 25% voting control at the firm.

The billionaire kicked off his appeal to try to restore his record $56 billion pay package in March, claiming a lower court judge made multiple legal errors in rescinding the compensation.

Tesla shares had briefly risen 3.3% on the comments but later pared gains to trade up about 1%. The stock is down 15% for the year.

Earlier this month, Tesla chair Robyn Denholm denied a Wall Street Journal report that said board members had reached out to several executive search firms to find a replacement for Musk.

Musk said at the event that Tesla had already turned around sales, and demand was strong in regions apart from Europe, where the company has faced protests over his political views and endorsement of Trump.

Tesla reported a 13% drop in first-quarter deliveries and some investors are bracing for another yearly decline in 2025, due to backlash against his political moves and as customers waited for cheaper versions of the redesigned Model Y crossover, its best-selling vehicle.

Musk, who also leads other companies including rocket maker SpaceX, reiterated that the satellite internet service Starlink might go public at some point in the future.

Starlink has expanded rapidly worldwide to operate in more than 70 countries, with a strong focus on further growth in emerging markets such as India.

There should be some U.S. AI regulations, but the sector should not be overregulated, said Musk, who founded artificial intelligence company xAI in 2023 in response to growing adoption of generative AI.

XAI is ramping up its data centre capacity to train more advanced models, by raising billions of dollars, as competition intensifies. Its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called "Colossus", is touted as the largest in the world.