Elon Musk: Possibly sell Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus by the end of next year

IT Home reported on April 24 that Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on an earnings call that it is expected that before the end of this year, Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot will have the ability to complete "useful" factory tasks, and the company may sell it to the outside world by the end of 2025, and Tesla plans to take the lead in using the robot in its own factory by the end of this year.

A few months ago, Tesla released a new generation of humanoid robots, Optimus Gen 2, with the aim of allowing it to take over repetitive tasks for humans. Compared to the previous version, the new prototype robot has a number of improvements.

Tesla believes that it is feasible to build humanoid robots using the artificial intelligence technology and expertise in batteries and electric motors for its self-driving car project. Tesla's cars, they say, are actually "robots on wheels" that can now replace humans in some tasks, especially repetitive and dangerous tasks, by simply making them humanoid.

In a previous update about Optimus, Musk had said that "the Optimus project is grossly underestimated." He estimates that the demand for the robot could be as high as 10 billion to 20 billion units. Musk even "confidently predicts" that Optimus will account for "the majority of Tesla's long-term value."

Musk's vision is for everyone to have a Tesla Optimus robot in their home, which will not only take over many manufacturing and service jobs, but also enter the homes of ordinary people.

After releasing Tesla's Q1 2024 earnings report, Musk updated the Optimus launch schedule. He said Optimus is already performing factory tasks in the lab and believes that by the end of this year, it will be able to perform real tasks in Tesla's actual factory.

In addition, Musk said he believes Tesla can start selling the Optimus robot to customers outside the company by the end of 2025. Again, he stressed that he expects Optimus to eventually account for the majority of Tesla's revenue and overall value.

Musk has previously said that he expects the Optimus to be priced "less than half the price of the car," which is about $25,000 (IT home note: about 181,000 yuan currently).