The Blubber

Elon Musk wants to start selling humanoid robots by 2027, per BI.

During Tesla's annual AI Day last year, the CEO hinted that Optimus could be available for orders within three to five years, emphasizing that it would be "expected to cost much less than a car" and "probably less than $20,000," as reported by Reuters.

Recent developments suggest that Musk is actively expanding the team working on the project to bring his vision to life. Tesla's careers page currently lists over 50 job openings related to "Tesla Bot" or Optimus, as highlighted by the EV news site Electrek.

Among the advertised positions, based in Palo Alto, California, are roles such as "Humanoid Controls Engineer, Tesla Bot" and "Systems Design & Integration Engineer, Tesla Bot," indicating a dedicated effort to accelerate the development of the Tesla Bot.

In a post from May, Musk provided an update on the progress of the "Optimus Team," expressing satisfaction with the team's excellent progress. Subsequently, Tesla shared a video update on Optimus last month, showcasing its capability to self-calibrate arms and legs and demonstrating tasks such as sorting building blocks by color using hands, vision, and Tesla's on-board neural net. The video concluded with Optimus performing yoga stretches.

Despite Tesla's strides in humanoid robotics, some U.S.-based competitors have already initiated testing of humanoid robots in warehouse environments, putting pressure on Tesla to catch up.

One such competitor is Texas-based Apptronik, which introduced its robot Apollo in August. Apollo, standing over feet tall, can carry up to 55 pounds. Apptronik CEO Jeff Cardenas mentioned that the company has deployed units of Apollo at customer sites, with a focus on continuous technological improvement.

Agility Robotics, constructing a factory in Oregon, is another player in the field. Its robot Digit is undergoing testing at an Amazon research-and-development center near Seattle.