I Saw Tesla’s Flying Roadster In Person w/ Emmet Peppers

Emmet Peppers and I just left Tesla’s Roadster event in Waco, Texas. Seeing that demo in person was mind-blowing. But what can customers actually buy—and what does this tell us about Tesla’s future?

On the drive back to Austin, we talk through the Roadster, a possible Tesla–SpaceX merger, Cybercab, and what could get Tesla’s business growing again. We also debate Cybertruck demand and whether Tesla should have done more to educate people about its vehicles.

Then we get into Optimus and AI. I explain why I think a truly useful household robot is harder than most people expect, what Tesla still needs to solve, and why the smartest AI models could capture much more of the market than people realize. Emmet pushes back on several of these ideas, including AI valuations and whether businesses really need the best models.

Lots to unpack. Curious what you guys think—what impressed you most about the Roadster demo, and what questions do you still have?

Guest: Emmet Peppers
Recorded on the drive from Waco to Austin after the Roadster event.

00:00 Leaving the Roadster event with Emmet Peppers
00:44 First reactions to the flying Roadster
02:44 The demo vs. the car customers can buy
07:24 Safety concerns and the limits of the demo
10:56 Tesla stock and a possible SpaceX merger
15:12 What would drive Tesla’s next phase of growth?
19:40 Tesla’s last manual car—and a driverless lineup?
25:16 Emmet’s Founders Roadster and the new design
27:20 What the event was like in person
30:36 Engineering breakthroughs or overengineering?
33:15 Cybertruck demand and the advertising debate
39:45 Could Optimus be Tesla’s next big event?
43:51 Why useful household robots are so difficult
52:12 My Optimus timeline and the missing intelligence piece
57:47 Why AI hardware could change the experience
1:07:55 Can the leading AI companies become too hard to catch?
1:10:25 Are we in an AI bubble?
1:17:51 The smartest AI vs. cheaper, good-enough models
1:23:03 Wrap-up and our next conversation

Social
🐦 X: https://x.com/davelee
🎧 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dave-lee-on-investing/id1493031991
🎙️Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2iin015s0k21Bt4ldep9XT?si=uBV4Ft8hQEu_GE4YSIDDGg
📸 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/heydave7
Dave Lee on Parenting, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWD9b1BZqi2G2u30sGYIFrA

NOTE: Please don’t fall for scammers who might impersonate me or others in the comment section. I do NOT give out my number or ask people to contact me.

💁🏻‍♂️ Disclaimer: All content on this channel is for discussion and illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial advice or recommendation to buy or sell any securities. Should you need such advice, consult a licensed financial or tax advisor. All views expressed are personal opinion as of date of recording and are subject to change without responsibility to update views. No guarantee is given regarding the accuracy of information on this channel. Neither host or guests can be held responsible for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information offered. Author is long TSLA and other stocks at time of original video publish date.

Check out my archived articles/posts on Tesla and investing: https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/articles-megaposts-by-davet.23473/#post-485768

#Tesla #TSLA #Stocks Receive SMS online on sms24.me

Watch on YouTube

Subscribe on YouTubeReaderBot

TubeReader video aggregator is a website that collects and organizes online videos from the YouTube source. Video aggregation is done for different purposes, and TubeReader take different approaches to achieve their purpose.

Our try to collect videos of high quality or interest for visitors to view; the collection may be made by editors or may be based on community votes.

Another method is to base the collection on those videos most viewed, either at the aggregator site or at various popular video hosting sites.

TubeReader site exists to allow users to collect their own sets of videos, for personal use as well as for browsing and viewing by others; TubeReader can develop online communities around video sharing.

Our site allow users to create a personalized video playlist, for personal use as well as for browsing and viewing by others.

@YouTubeReaderBot allows you to subscribe to Youtube channels.

By using @YouTubeReaderBot Bot you agree with YouTube Terms of Service.

Use the @YouTubeReaderBot telegram bot to be the first to be notified when new videos are released on your favorite channels.

Look for new videos or channels and share them with your friends.

You can start using our bot from this video, subscribe now to I Saw Tesla’s Flying Roadster In Person w/ Emmet Peppers

What is YouTube?

YouTube is a free video sharing website that makes it easy to watch online videos. You can even create and upload your own videos to share with others. Originally created in 2005, YouTube is now one of the most popular sites on the Web, with visitors watching around 6 billion hours of video every month.