Humanoid robot Optimus to be Tesla’s most important product, says Elon Musk

• The Tesla Bot was first introduced in August 2021 during a series of tech talks hosted by Tesla to recruit machine learning talent

• Optimus is based on the same chips and sensors that Tesla’s cars use for self-driving features

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk said that a humanoid robot is the “most important product” that Tesla is developing this year, on Wednesday’s earnings call.

The Tesla chief placed the robot ahead of the Cybertruck and other new car models, including the Semi and the Roadster. 

The robot, code-named Optimus, “has the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business over time,” Musk said.

Musk had first introduced the robot in August 2021 as part of AI Day, a series of tech talks hosted by Tesla in California to recruit machine learning talent. 

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Musk had earlier stated that the Tesla Bot could perform repetitive tasks that only humans can do today, enabling it to transform the world economy by driving labor costs down.

“Optimus,” is based on the same chips and sensors that Tesla’s cars use for self-driving features. Tesla has been designing it so that humans will be able to run away from the robot or overpower it.

Meanwhile, the company has no plans to introduce the Cybertruck this year. The Tesla CEO said that it isn’t currently working on the $25,000 vehicle as the lingering chip shortage restricts the release of new models without resulting in fewer total vehicles being delivered.

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(With inputs from CNBC)

Picture Credits: InsideEVs