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Tesla CEO Elon Musk says its humanoid robot, Optimus, will cost less than half the price of a car.
Why it matters: With the global labor market valued at $30 trillion, or 30% of global GDP, the addressable market for humanoid robots is massive.
Driving the news: Musk recently took to X to respond to questions on Optimus’s pricing and manufacturing.
- In response to Sam Korus, director of research of autonomous tech and robotics at ARK Invest, Musk wrote that he expects manufacturing to have higher “complexity per unit mass”, but will end up “costing less than half of a car”.
- And in a response to another X user, Musk confirmed the Optimus will be priced between $25,000 and $30,000 initially, and the price will decrease over time.
Zoom in: Tesla recently unveiled the Optimus Gen 2, its next-gen humanoid robot targeted at automating repetitive tasks in factories.
- The prototype showed a lot of improvements compared to its previous version.
- It had 28 structural actuators that allowed its body to achieve over 200 degrees of freedom. Plus, all ten fingers were tactile-sensitive.
The big picture: Beyond industrial applications, Musk envisions a broader role for Optimus, including service jobs and, eventually, becoming a part of every household.
- From Musk’s perspective, a humanoid is simply a car on wheels, and he believes Tesla’s expertise in AI, batteries, and manufacturing will give it an edge over competition.
