Musk says he's keen to still be Tesla CEO in five years

Elon Musk says he is committed to staying on as Tesla's CEO for at least another five years, weeks after the electric vehicle maker's chair dismissed reports that the board had approached executive search firms about finding his successor.

Having reasonable control of Tesla was the most important factor in staying on as head of the company, he said on Tuesday at an economic forum in Qatar.

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

Moderator Mishal Husain pushed further: "No doubt about that at all?"

Musk added, chuckling: "I can't be still here if I'm dead."

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.

"In terms of political spending, I'm gonna do a lot less in the future. I think I've done enough," Musk said.

Tesla reported a 13 per cent 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 also said that his internet service Starlink might go public at some point in the future but that there was no rush.

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 United States AI regulations but the sector should not be over-regulated, Musk said.

His artificial intelligence company xAI is ramping up its data centre capacity to train more advanced models, by raising billions of dollars, as competition in AI intensifies.

Its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called "Colossus", is touted as the largest in the world.

with AP