Musk said that the humanoid robot Optimus will be sold as soon as the end of next year!

Finance Associated Press

2024-04-24 10:36Published on the official account of Cailianshe under Shanghai Shanghai Poster Industry Group

Finance Associated Press, April 24 (edited by Xiaoxiang) Tesla CEO Elon Musk (Elon Musk) updated the launch schedule of Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus at the company's earnings cable conference on Tuesday. Musk has threatened to officially sell Optimus by the end of 2025 at the earliest.

Currently, several technology companies around the world are betting on the humanoid robot track to cope with potential labor shortages and try to replace humans in industries such as logistics, warehousing, retail, and manufacturing to perform repetitive tasks that may be dangerous or tedious.

Musk told investors on the latest earnings call that Optimus is currently able to perform factory tasks in the lab and believes that by the end of this year, it will be able to perform tasks in a real Tesla factory.

Musk also mentioned the company's AI capabilities during Tuesday's call. "I think Tesla is the most capable of mass production of all the humanoid robot manufacturers," he said. ”

In September 2022, Tesla first introduced its original Optimus humanoid robot idea, which was still named Bumblebee at the time. And at the end of last year, Tesla released a working video of its new generation of humanoid robot, the Optimus Gen 2, without any notice.

Compared to the previous version, the new prototype robot has a number of improvements. According to the video introduction at the time, the second-generation Optimus is equipped with: actuators and sensors designed by Tesla, a 2-degree-of-freedom drive neck, a faster response 11-degree-of-freedom dexterous hand, a tactile sensor (10 fingers), actuator integrated electronics and wiring harnesses, a foot force/torque sensor, and an articulated toe.

In addition, the second-generation Optimus has been significantly improved in a number of ways: walking speed has been increased by 30%, weight has been reduced by 10kg, and balance and total body control have been improved.

(Demo video of Optimus Gen 2 at the end of last year)

It is worth mentioning that Musk has previously said that the proportion of robot sales in Tesla's business may exceed that of other areas such as automobile manufacturing, and optimistically expects Optimus to account for "the majority of Tesla's long-term value". He also expects that demand for the robot could eventually be as high as 10 billion to 20 billion units, and believes that the Optimus could eventually sell for "less than half the price of a car," at about $25,000.

Netizen: Can it really be released so soon?

There is no doubt that although behind the 10% rise in Tesla's stock price after overnight trading, it may be more because people are pleased with Musk's statement of "accelerating the launch of more affordable new models", but the humanoid robot Optimus may be expected to be sold before the end of next year, this "big pie" is undoubtedly quite a surprise to many investors who pay attention to this track......

Of course, for the latest timetable given by Musk, some industry insiders and netizens do not dare to fully believe it at the moment.

Musk has a bad history of failing to deliver on bold promises to Wall Street. In 2019, he told investors that Tesla would operate a "robotaxi" driverless taxi network by 2020, but that vision has yet to materialize.

And new products such as the Cybertruck have been delayed again and again. Currently, Tesla's electric pickup truck, the Cyberchuck, is only available in the United States.

Some netizens sarcastically said on the social media platform X, "If the timeline of the Optimus is the same as that of the electric pickup, then the final launch time will wait until 2032." ”

However, it is worth mentioning that judging from the current wave of investment in the global humanoid robot track and the speed of development, Tesla and Musk may indeed have "time to wait" to some extent.

Recently, Boston Dynamics announced that its all-electric Atlas humanoid robot, which has been developed for many years, will soon be launched into the commercial market. A video released last Wednesday shows that the new Atlas robot has a lighter mechanical skeleton and smoother movements, such as being able to stand on its own from the ground and rotate its head 180 degrees, making its flexibility almost unmatched. Even Musk came to join in the fun and released a photo of the midnight bell to ridicule.

In addition, earlier this year, Figure, a startup backed by Microsoft and Nvidia, said it had signed a partnership agreement with German automaker BMW to deploy humanoid robots at the automaker's U.S. factory.

If the research and development of the entire global humanoid robot track is further accelerated, then it may indeed be necessary for Tesla to seize the opportunity through the launch of Optimus by the end of next year......

(Finance Associated Press Xiaoxiang)

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