Elon Musk's Ambition: Optimus Robot Production to Begin This Year
Elon Musk’s ambition to introduce the Tesla Optimus humanoid robot is increasingly becoming a reality. Tesla has stated that preparations for the Optimus production line will begin soon in the second quarter of this year.
In its first-quarter performance report, Tesla revealed that the initial phase of building a large-scale factory for Optimus will start shortly.
The first-generation production line will be located at the Fremont factory in the United States, converting the Model S and Model X assembly lines into a robot production facility.
Looking ahead, Tesla also plans a second-generation production line at Gigafactory Texas. This factory is projected to have a much larger capacity, with a long-term target of 10 million robots per year.
Musk mentioned that Optimus’s role will not be limited to Tesla factories. The robot is designed to assist with various jobs, including battery manufacturing processes and other operational tasks.
This step is also part of Tesla’s strategy to secure a position in the humanoid robot market before competition intensifies.
Several companies, such as Figure AI and Boston Dynamics, as well as various Chinese manufacturers, are accelerating the development of similar technologies.
Over the past few years, Tesla has built the foundation for embodied AI, or physical AI. This infrastructure includes data centres, training clusters for the Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, to the development of robots and in-house chips.
Nevertheless, some doubts persist. The Optimus robots showcased at various events have not yet been truly deployed in Tesla’s production lines.
Additionally, the latest generation, known as Optimus V3, has not been shown to the public, even though it was previously scheduled for release in April.
Musk stated that the launch of Optimus V3 is likely to be delayed until late July or August, coinciding with the start of production. He admitted to deliberately withholding design details to protect intellectual property from competitors.
However, Wall Street analysts tend to be more conservative. Bank of America analyst Alexander Perry stated that Optimus’s contribution in the short term is expected to remain limited.
Nevertheless, he sees significant long-term potential, with projections for global humanoid robot shipments reaching 1.2 million units by 2030 and 10 million units by 2035.