Tesla plans to pay Musk $1tn - do they really need him that much? A great leader is a huge asset for company, of course, but can anyone be worth $1 trillion? That is the pay packet Tesla shareholders have approved for Elon Musk, as long as he meets the targets they have set over the next 10 years. In the meantime he won't collect a salary, but will presumably throw himself into his work with renewed vigour. He was certainly buzzing with energy as he jigged around the stage at the carmaker's Texas headquarters to rapturous applause, telling the audience that while other shareholder meetings were snoozefests, Tesla's are bangers.

What does Elon Musk do with all his money? Tesla boss Elon Musk has been one of the world's richest people for several years now, and that wealth recently went stratospheric when he became the first half-trillionaire. Despite this, Musk has insisted he leads a largely unglamorous lifestyle. He said in 2021 that he lived in a Texas home valued at $50,000 (£38,000). His former partner Grimes, with whom he has two children, told Vanity Fair in 2022 he does not live the extravagant life of excess luxury many assume.

Why human-shaped robots loom large in Musk's Tesla plans It has appeared in Tesla showrooms, on its factory floors and has even posed with Kim Kardashian. But Elon Musk's vision for his human-like robot Optimus is much grander than that. Since first unveiling it at a Tesla showcase in 2022, the tech billionaire has suggested his company's droid could play a huge role in the homes and lives of people all over the world. Along with self-driving robotaxis and Cybertrucks, Musk believes Tesla robots are key to establishing a foothold in the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape. And investors who signed off on his $1tn (£760bn) pay package on Thursday would appear to agree .

Humans have already been shown to become'aroused' when touching'intimate' parts of robots and now new research has shown we also assign them with genders. In tests, researchers found participants assumed a robot without any gender cues was male but'feminine' cues on a screen attached to the robot were enough to convince them it was female. Participants also found male robots were more human-like, more animated and less anxious. Humans have already been shown to become'aroused' when touching'intimate' parts of robots and now new research has shown we also assign them with genders. In tests, 'feminine' cues on a screen attached to a robot (stock image) were enough to convince them the machine was female The findings may help robot developers economically customise robots for certain roles and to serve certain populations.

As robots become more life-like, questions have been raised about whether its morally acceptable to kick them, bully them or program them to kill. Taking this dilemma to the next level, researchers have studied how these machines make us feel, sexually and emotionally. Scientists programmed a human-shaped robot to ask volunteers to touch it in 13 different places. While some of these requests presented no difficulties, people were hesitant to touch'private' areas including the robot's'buttocks'. Scientists at Stanford University programmed a human-shaped robot (pictured left) to ask volunteers (pictured right) to touch it in 13 different places.