An army of Tesla Optimus robots is approaching

Tesla is preparing to produce its first “legion” of humanoid robots Optimus. The first battalion expected as early as this year.

During the first-quarter earnings presentation, Elon Musk used a military metaphor to confirm that the production of these robots would begin this year and that it would not be just an experimental project.

First introduced at Tesla AI Day in 2021, Optimus was then just a concept, illustrated by an actor in costume. By 2022, Tesla already had a working prototype, and development has accelerated since then. In October, several dozen units interacted with the public during the CyberCab presentation.

A product destined to become common

Elon Musk reaffirmed that Optimus could become Tesla’s most important product, surpassing the company’s largest current project by ten times. He also confirmed that the first Optimus robot has already been manufactured at the Fremont factory.

Tesla aims to produce between 10,000 and 12,000 Optimus robots in 2025, although Musk tempers this estimate by setting a more realistic goal of 5,000 units. “Even with 5,000 robots, we will have the equivalent of a Roman legion, which is quite impressive,” he said. For 2026, the goal is even more ambitious: to produce 50,000 units, or ten “legions” of humanoid robots.

With this strategy, Tesla wants to make Optimus a major player in automation. It remains to be seen whether this “legion” will revolutionize the industry as Musk predicts.

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