-
Elon Musk pushed for federal regulation of autonomous vehicles during Tesla’s earnings call.
-
The Tesla CEO has previously said he would be interested in a Cabinet role under a second Trump administrator.
-
Musk said he is interested in leading a potential government efficiency commission.
Elon Musk said Wednesday that he believes autonomous vehicles should be approved at the federal level, rather than by state, and that if he were given a role in the White House, he would make that happen.
Tesla’s CEO made the comment on the company’s earnings call on Wednesday. Tesla’s third-quarter earnings beat expectations, with the stock rising 12% in after-hours trading after the earnings release.
Musk said on the call that he expects Tesla to have fully autonomous, unattended vehicles on the road in Texas and California next year, pending state approval. He said he would be “shocked” if the company did not receive approval, but that he thinks it would be better overall if autonomous vehicles were approved at the federal level.
“There should be a federal approval process for autonomous vehicles,” Musk said on the call, adding: “If there is a government efficiency department, I will try to make that happen. For everyone, not just Tesla.”
Musk did not mention Trump by name, but he previously said he would be eager to take on a role in the White House focused on enforcing government efficiency if Donald Trump were to come to power.
“I can’t wait,” Musk said on X, responding to a Washington Post report in which Trump floated the idea of a Cabinet role for the billionaire. “There is a lot of waste and unnecessary regulation within government that needs to go.”
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the US regulates autonomous vehicles at the state and federal levels. At least 29 states have passed laws regarding autonomous vehicles, the association said.
Since endorsing Trump in July, Musk has contributed to the Trump campaign’s ground game, flying to swing states, hosting town halls and setting up lotteries that encourage people to vote, which some legal experts say violates the law. election law could be.
On October 18, Musk proposed at a Pennsylvania town hall to lay off an unspecified number of federal employees and give them two years’ severance pay.
Musk did not respond to a request for comment.
Read the original article on Business Insider
