Tesla is suffering a global downturn in sales in the face of tough competition from China and public unease over the political controversies of its polarizing CEO, Elon Musk, among other reasons.
That places the electric-car maker in a sticky situation, though Musk said this week that he sees a way out.
In a post on X on Tuesday, the Tesla chief said he believes that around “80% of Tesla’s value will be Optimus,” referring to the company’s humanoid robot.
He didn’t put a time frame on it, but with the bipedal bot still under development, it could be years before AI-powered Optimus secures meaningful deployment at a large scale.
Musk’s comment came around the same time that Tesla shared its “Master Plan Part IV” in a post on X on Tuesday.
“We are building the products and services that bring AI into the physical world,” Tesla said in the post. “We have been working tirelessly for nearly two decades to create the foundation for this technological renaissance through the development of electric vehicles, energy products, and humanoid robots.”
It added: “Optimus … is changing not only the perception of labor itself but its availability and capability. Jobs and tasks that are particularly monotonous or dangerous can now be accomplished by other means. In this way, Optimus’s mission is to give people back more time to do what they love.”
Musk envisages the robot being used in industrial settings like factories, and wants to deploy thousands of them to work alongside human workers at Tesla manufacturing plants. He’s also spoken of Optimus becoming a home helper, suggesting it could one day “babysit your kid, walk your dog, mow your lawn, get the groceries, just be your friend, serve drinks.” And presumably make your dinner, too.
But it won’t be cheap. Musk said last year that when the robot is produced at scale, it could cost somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000.
When it comes to humanoid robots, Tesla faces tough competition from a slew of companies building similar machines. We’ve already seen impressive displays from robots by the likes of Boston Dynamics, Unitree, Figure, and Robotera, so Tesla clearly has its work cut out if it’s going to make a success of Optimus.
