Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk on Monday hinted at a possible delay in its Optimus production and sales timeline.
What Happened: Musk said that the EV company would have “genuinely useful” humanoid robots in low production for use within its factories next year. The company will “hopefully” increase production for other customers in 2026, he added.
The CEO’s newly provided timeline is slower than the estimated timeline provided during Tesla’s earnings call in April. Musk then said that the company will have Optimus doing useful tasks at the factory before the end of this year and then sell them externally by the end of 2025.
Tesla is currently looking to make a "major hardware revision" for Optimus by the end of this year or early next year, following which it will commence limited production of the robot to deploy in its factories and test its capabilities, Musk said at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting last month.
"But I think like next year, my prediction is next year we’ll have over 1,000, maybe a few thousand, Optimus robots working at Tesla," Musk then added.
Two Optimus bots are already employed in Tesla's Fremont factory, taking cells off the end of the production line and placing them in containers, the CEO confirmed in early June.
Why It Matters: Musk is currently attempting to make Tesla a robotics, AI, and sustainable energy company in addition to an automaker with an increased push toward diverse fields such as robotics, energy storage, and autonomous driving.
During Tesla's annual shareholder meeting in June, Musk said that there will be at least one humanoid robot for every person in the world in the future, implying a total humanoid robot population of at least 10 billion or more, of which the EV company will have a significant share.
“While autonomous vehicle is a $5-$7 trillion market cap situation, Optimus is a $25 trillion market cap situation,” Musk then said.
Musk expects to be able to sell Optimus at $10,000 or $20,000, at a lower price point than Tesla’s cheapest Model 3 sedan, once it reaches high-volume production.
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