Tesla’s stock surged on Monday as Elon Musk continued to highlight the future potential of the company’s humanoid robots.
“Tesla will have genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production for Tesla internal use next year and, hopefully, high production for other companies in 2026,” Musk announced on X.
Back in April, Musk had mentioned at Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting that Optimus, the name given to their robot, would enter limited production in 2025. He predicted that by the end of that year, more than 1,000 robots would be deployed at Tesla, noting that two robots are already operating at their factory, although their tasks remain undisclosed.
Musk speculated in April that the development of these robots could potentially increase Tesla’s market capitalization by $20 trillion. The robots are expected to be on sale by the end of 2025, with prices ranging between $20,000 and $30,000.
The exact meaning of “genuinely useful” remains unclear, especially as previous demonstrations have not been particularly impressive. For example, a video in May allegedly showed an Optimus folding a shirt, but it was reportedly controlled by a person off-screen.
This would not be the first time Tesla has used unconventional methods to present its robots. The initial debut of the Optimus project in 2021 featured a person dancing in a robot costume.
Craig Irwin, an analyst at Roth MKM, expressed skepticism on Yahoo Finance, questioning the feasibility of having a sentient humanoid robot by 2025 and comparing Tesla’s progress to Boston Dynamics, which he believes is far more advanced.
In addition to Boston Dynamics, which is owned by Hyundai Motor, Tesla faces competition from Japan’s Honda, Apptronik, Chinese automakers Dongfeng Motor and Nio (who are testing robots developed by UBTech Robotics), and BMW, which has been using Silicon Valley-based Figure’s humanoid robots since January.
Tesla’s stock rose by more than 3% on Monday following Musk’s comments. The stock remains relatively stable year-to-date after a significant recovery over the past two months.
Tesla is set to report its second-quarter earnings on Tuesday, where Musk is expected to provide updates on the company’s delayed robotaxi project.