Tesla Optimus Bot: Musk optimistic about the start of sales

During a conference call with investors on Tuesday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressed his optimism about the start of sales of the humanoid robot Optimus Bot. The robot should be able to perform "useful tasks" in a Tesla factory environment by the end of the year. The robot could go on general sale by the end of 2025.

Musk again emphasized the importance of the Optimus Bot for Tesla in the telephone round with investors. He continues to believe that "Optimus will be more valuable than everything else combined". The robot is to be made "sentient" for use in industry. This is the only way it will be able to find its way in reality and perform tasks on demand, Musk continued. For a company that produces such a robot, "there is no meaningful limit to the size of the economy".

Possible sales launch of the Optimus Bot

Musk also gave a rough timetable for the future of the Optimus Bot. It is now capable of performing simple industrial tasks under laboratory conditions. The robot is to be used in production at a Tesla factory by the end of 2024. Initially on a "limited scale", as Musk emphasizes. He added that the Optimus Bot could be sold to external companies as early as 2025. However, this is currently still "conjecture". The envisaged timetable is not yet certain.

Tesla is currently in a tight spot with its humanoid robot. Other companies have long since trumped the company in the robotics sector. Robotics companies Figure, Apptronik and UBTech are already testing their humanoid robots in factories belonging to car manufacturers BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Nio, or are in the process of testing their potential uses there. Some of the robots are able to learn new skills independently. The humanoid robot Digit from Agility Robotics, which Amazon and GXO Logistics are testing together with humans, is a little simpler. It is currently mainly suitable for simple transportation tasks.

In this environment, Musk's announcement is no coincidence. He now has to step up his game to keep investors interested, who are keeping an eye on other humanoid robot platforms that are already further along. There is also a "new" player in the race for the use of humanoid robots in industry: Boston Dynamics. With the new Atlas, the company has presented a robot platform that seems to have a lot of potential. Boston Dynamics is currently in the process of equipping the robot with intelligence and machine learning capabilities that will also enable it to learn new skills.

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(olb)