Tesla chief Elon Musk said in a call with investors on Wednesday that his team is “on the cusp of something really tremendous” with Optimus, the humanoid robot that it’s been working on since 2021.
After launching the second version of Optimus in December 2023, the third version is expected to debut in the first quarter of next year, with Musk claiming it’ll be so advanced that it’ll “look like a person wearing a robot suit.”
Tesla is aiming to begin production of the Optimus robot this year, rapidly scaling to as many as a million units annually by the end of 2026 — significantly earlier than its original 2030 target date.
The Tesla CEO said that current challenges with its bipedal bot include achieving advanced, dexterous hand movement as well as setting up a completely new supply chain.
Musk has high hopes for the so-called “Tesla bot,” earlier claiming that it could become the company’s “biggest product ever,” and even drive more than 80% of Tesla’s value after sales begin.
He’s also said previously that “thousands” of the robots could one day be working alongside human personnel at Tesla factories, undertaking “dangerous, repetitive, [and] boring tasks.”
We last saw Optimus earlier this month in a video of it performing various kung-fu moves with remarkable speed and precision, and we’ve also seen the robot dancing and making dinner. While such talents are unlikely to be called upon in industrial settings, they do at least demonstrate advanced dexterity and coordination — skills that will indeed be useful in the workplace.
Whether Tesla can make a truly useful humanoid robot remains to be seen. But it’s also up against highly impressive competitors such as U.S.-based Boston Dynamics, Figure, and Apptronik, as well as Chinese firms like Unitree and LimX Dynamics.
One notable advantage that it does have is experience in scaling production quickly, along with auto factories where it can test and integrate the robot over time.
