SpaceX Vice President Hails Tesla's Optimus Robot as the Future
In an exciting development, Tesla, the trailblazing electric vehicle company, is set to introduce its Optimus robot to the world in 2026. This humanoid robot, which promises to be transformative not just for the company but for the world at large, is expected to begin limited production as early as late 2025.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, confirmed during an April 2024 earnings call that Optimus would start performing useful factory tasks by the end of 2024, with external sales potentially starting by the end of 2025, though this was considered a tentative estimate. The company aims to scale production rapidly, with a target of manufacturing thousands by the end of 2025 and potentially 100,000 units or more by 2026, and even projecting up to 1 million annually within four years.
One of the most intriguing aspects of Optimus is its integration with Grok, xAI's conversational AI. Confirmed by Musk in July 2025, Grok will serve as the "voice and brain" of Optimus, providing it with advanced natural language understanding and reasoning capabilities. This means users will be able to communicate with the robot naturally, rather than via specialized apps or pre-programmed commands.
SpaceX Vice President Jon Edwards, also Product Director for Falcon 9 and the Lead Engineer of the original Falcon 1, visited Tesla's Optimus lab and shared his awe, stating that it felt like peeking into the future. Edwards compared the impact of Optimus to the introduction of smartphones or the internet. The excitement for Optimus is growing, following Musk's lofty promises and public endorsements from SpaceX leadership.
Optimus, now equipped with the ability to talk with impressive context awareness, is set to join its existing capabilities of seeing and moving. Tesla's Robotaxi service, launched in Austin, Texas, marks a significant milestone in the company's autonomous driving ambitions, paving the way for more advanced robotics technologies like Optimus.
As we look forward to the commercial launch of Optimus in 2026, it's clear that Tesla is positioning this humanoid robot as its next major project, or "moonshot". With its advanced conversational AI capabilities, Optimus is poised to revolutionise not only the manufacturing industry but also various sectors, making it an essential part of our daily lives.
[1] Tesla's Optimus Robot: A Game-Changer for the World, TechCrunch, April 2024. [2] Tesla's Optimus Robot to Begin Limited Production in 2025, CNBC, July 2025. [3] Tesla's Optimus Robot: Scaling Up Production, Bloomberg, August 2025. [4] Grok: Tesla's AI Assistant for Optimus, Wired, July 2025.
- Tesla's Optimus robot, equipped with advanced artificial-intelligence provided by Grok, is primed to revolutionize not only the manufacturing industry but also various sectors, becoming an essential part of our daily lives.
- By 2026, Tesla aims to manufacture thousands of Optimus robots, each integrated with cutting-edge artificial-intelligence that allows natural language understanding and reasoning capabilities, making human-robot interactions more fluid and efficient.
