Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is set to unveil new technology which would help prevent drivers from drifting off roads; in what analysts are predicting is an all-wheel-drive version of the Model S electric car.
Musk tweeted a photo of a car by Tesla partially covered by an open garage door that has the letter D on it last week, with the date Oct. 9, 2014.
Brian Johnson, an analyst for Barclays, believes that Tesla will be unveiling an all-wheel-drive variant of the company's luxury sedan. According to sources familiar with the plan, Tesla will also include features such as cruise control that will allow the vehicle to match its speed with other cars on the road.
The stock price of Tesla has increased almost nine times over the previous two years. However, there is still skepticism on whether the company can consistently reach profit goals to meet production targets.
Andrea James, a Dougherty & Co. senior research analyst, believes that the company can succeed with Musk at the helm.
"In only 2011, he was an unknown quantity among most of Wall Street," said James. "The loss of Steve Jobs left a void for heroic business leadership, and Elon was ripe to step into that role. In some ways he has."
Musk has never been shy in expressing his opinions on trends in technology. At the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit, Musk said that he has no interest in combining automobiles and rockets, two industries where he has heavily invested in.
"I'm not sure about the flying cars," said Musk. "If the sky was full of cars flying all over the place, it would affect how things look. It would affect the skyline. And it would be noisier and there would be a greater probability of something falling on your head. Those are not good things."
However, Musk acknowledged that flying Teslas will have its advantages, such as faster travel times, though that advantage can be attained through other means such as eliminating choke points in traffic and building massive underground tunnel systems.
Musk is also very vocal against the development of artificial intelligence, believing that super-intelligent machines could threaten human existence in the future.
At the same event, Musk expressed concern regarding how people are not aware of the rapid progress on AI development, along with the technology's potential risks.
"I don't think anyone realizes how quickly artificial intelligence is advancing. Particularly if [the machine is] involved in recursive self-improvement . . . and its utility function is something that's detrimental to humanity, then it will have a very bad effect," said Musk.
