It always seems to me that every few months, some Silicon Valley engineer invents the autonomous cab. But this time it's different! Well, not so much, since investors didn't appreciate the concept and Tesla ended up losing 8% on the session. In fact, the event left many analysts with more questions than answers. Some lamented that it had only two seats. Some wondered what's the end game. The decline in the share price, equivalent to a $50 billion drop in capitalization, was mostly due to the lack of details disclosed in the announcements.

The Cybercab, presented at the "We Robot" conference in Los Angeles, is a two-seater vehicle without steering wheel or pedals, equipped with the automaker's autonomous driving system. The company has accompanied this robot cab with the Robovan, an electric shuttle - still autonomous - capable of carrying around twenty people. In a press release issued following the conference, Tesla indicated that the Cybercab would go into production in 2026 and be marketed at under $30,000, making it the least expensive model in the range at this stage. It will still be necessary to convince the regulatory authorities of the vehicle's safety, which will be no mean feat.

Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.

But true to his character, Musk wasn't content with these announcements, and decided to go one step further by unveiling Optimus robots powered by artificial intelligence. In reality, these robots are far from autonomous, and are more of a publicity stunt than a future assistance tool...

Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.

Finally, it would be hard to overlook the resounding success of SpaceX, the space company founded by the billionaire. On Sunday, October 13, the Starship rocket took off from the Mechazilla launch structure, reaching an altitude of 70 km before its main stage - 71 meters high and weighing around 250 tonnes - gently returned to the launch pad, accelerating from 5,000 km/h to just 3 in the space of a few seconds.

Mechazilla has caught the Super Heavy booster! pic.twitter.com/6R5YatSVJX

- SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 13, 2024

 

Already last year, a possible SpaceX IPO had investors salivating. At the time, the company was estimated to be worth between $180 and $200 billion, a valuation that now seems to have been greatly underestimated in view of the successes and hype it has generated.

Drawing by Amandine Victor