Tesla drops bombshell ahead of anticipated robotaxi event

On Oct. 10, Tesla CEO Elon Musk (TSLA) is anticipated to present a Hollywood-style spectacle, as he'll lead the highly anticipated "robotaxi event" at the Warner Brothers studio backlot.

The event itself, at the foundation intended for August Eight, is purported to be a prime product announcement for a spread Tesla's more ambitious projects, corresponding to the "Cybercab" robotaxi and a probable $25,000 electric car.

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On Oct. 2, Tesla reported its delivery numbers for the third quarter of 2024, which were up 6% from the identical period the year sooner than. But no matter the positive news, the numbers still slightly didn't meet analysts' expectations.

Additionally, a new report shows that Tesla has the opposite bombshell to drop sooner than its marquee event.

Sayonara to a protracted-time Tesla executive

Consistent with internal sources who have spoken to Bloomberg, Tesla has lost its top data-related executive just days sooner than it truly is a ways set to hold its Robotaxi event on Oct. 10.

Tesla employees were informed that Nagesh Saldi, the automaker's Chief Information Officer (CIO) has departed the corporate.

In his now-former position as CIO, Saldi reported at once to Elon Musk and became guilty for building out an awful lot of the corporate's computing capacity in preparation for its big shift to artificial intelligence and robotics.

Some projects he undertook included building out Tesla data centers in Austin, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, as well as as developing bespoke enterprise software on the total often known as Tesla One.

Saldi has been with Tesla since 2012, previously working for other Silicon Valley staples corresponding to Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Infosys. He became elevated to the CIO position in 2018 in the heart of a production ramp-up.

The former CIO is some of essentially the most recent in a small exodus of key Tesla executives from their positions. Drew Baglino, the previous senior vice president, and Rohan Patel, the previous head of government affairs, departed from Tesla in April this year. Allie Arebalo, its former HR head, left for Musk-less pastures only a month later.

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Tesla Bulls are still believing

Despite the chief shakeup at the corporate, the largest believers in Musk and Co. are still on the bandwagon going into Oct. 10.

Notoriously, some of essentially the most recent note from Wedbush Tesla bull Daniel Ives published Friday didn't mention the chief shift, but rather relayed a message of stellar self belief for the corporate going into the expected Robotaxi event.

"We agree with Robotaxi Day will be a seminal and historical day for Musk and Tesla and marks a new chapter of growth around self reliant, FSD, and AI future at Tesla," Ives said in his note. "We continue to agree with Tesla is the foremost undervalued AI name to be had in the market and we are awaiting Musk & Co. to unveil some 'game changing' self reliant technology at this event next week."

He reiterated his belief that Tesla is more than "just an EV vendor" and that its push into AI and robotics will be a key turning point at some point.

"We continue to agree with AI/FSD represents a $1 trillion of value alone for Tesla over the coming years," he said. "Next week, it truly is a ways time for Musk to have a watershed unveiling event to kick this AI era off at Tesla."

Wedbush maintained an "Outperform" rating and $300 price target for Tesla stock.

Tesla Inc. trades on the NASDAQ as TSLA and is up three.6% Friday, trading at $249.33 per share.

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