Elon Musk Says Tesla Could Start Selling Humanoid Robots Next Year, Gene Munster Calls It A 'Slight Positive' For This Reason

On Thursday, Elon Musk gave wide-ranging remarks that included new timelines for Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) humanoid robot and Full Self-Driving software.

Musk Teases Optimus Sales Timeline At Davos

Making a surprise debut at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Musk said Tesla could begin selling its humanoid robot, Optimus, "probably sometime next year."

Musk has been talking about Optimus since 2021 and has repeatedly framed the robot as a product that could eventually reshape the global economy.

Despite the bold claims, reports suggest Tesla is still working through technical hurdles, including challenges related to Optimus' hands.

On the other hand, China's Unitree Robotics shipped over 5,500 full-body humanoid robots in 2025, far surpassing U.S. competitors like Tesla, Figure AI and Agility Robotics, which each shipped about 150 units, reported South China Morning Post earlier this week.

According to Counterpoint Research, in 2025, approximately 16,000 more humanoid robots were deployed globally, with China responsible for over 80% of these installations.

FSD Approval Hints Lift Near-Term Optimism

Musk also said Tesla hopes to receive regulatory approval as early as next month to deploy its driver-supervised Full Self-Driving system in Europe, with China potentially following on a similar timeline.

"We hope to get supervised Full Self-Driving approval in Europe, hopefully next month, and then maybe a similar timing for China," Musk said.

How Investors And Tech Leaders Reacted

Deepwater Asset Management's managing partner Gene Munster said the market reaction reflected cautious optimism rather than exuberance.

In a post on X, Munster called Musk's comments "slightly positive," noting that even limited Optimus sales would represent meaningful progress.

Tesla shares rose more than 4% during Thursday's regular session, outpacing the Nasdaq's gains, according to Benzinga Pro. In after-hours trading, Tesla shares are up 0.25%.

However, not all reactions were serious.

When Musk suggested it would be a "no-brainer" to build solar-powered AI data centers in space, Reddit Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) co-founder Alexis Ohanian responded on X with a quip: "Data centers in space, you say?"

Tesla is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results and host its earnings call on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 5:30 p.m. ET, covering the company's financial performance for the quarter ended in December.

Tesla maintains a stronger price trend over medium and long terms, but negative in short term with a poor value ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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