Tesla Inc.'s (NASDAQ:TSLA) fourth-quarter earnings provided some valuable insights into the automaker's future. With talks about autonomous driving, as well as the discontinuation of Tesla's Model S and Model X, the Optimus was touted by CEO Elon Musk as the company's next big thing. With that said, here's everything Musk shared about the humanoid robot during the earnings call.
Model S, X Make Way For Optimus At Fremont
In a move that has generated considerable buzz, Musk announced that the automaker was scrapping the production of the Model S and Model X, which are both assembled at the automaker's Fremont facility in California.
"We are going to take the Model S and X production space in our Fremont factory and convert that into an Optimus factory with a long-term goal of having a million units a year," Musk shared. He added that the company would be unveiling the third-generation Optimus robot this year.
"This Optimus really will be a general-purpose robot that can learn by observing human behavior," Musk said. He also touted that the Optimus Gen 3 robot could learn tasks by watching videos. However, it comes as Tesla announced $20 billion CapEx spend for the year, which also includes the Optimus facility in Fremont.
Deployment In Factories?
Musk was also asked about the deployment of the Optimus robots in Tesla facilities, to which he said that Tesla was still in the early stages of Optimus. "We have had Optimus do some basic tasks in the factory," he shared, but added that the Robot wasn't "in usage in our factories in a material way. It’s more so that the robot can learn."
Challenges Ahead: The Need For Compute, Chip Design
When asked about Tesla's chip-building efforts, Musk shared that the AI5 chips would be crucial for the Optimus robot. Company CFO Vaibhav Taneja, on the other hand, said that the robot would require more compute to scale its operations.
"We first need to make sure we have enough chips for our vehicle production, all of our Optimus production," Musk said. He also shared that Tesla would need to "build a TerraFab," which he has previously hinted at as well. Musk then said that the Optimus robot was "completely useless" without an AI chip.
Musk also hinted at Grok integration in the robots, touting the AI model as a "conductor," before he outlined hypothetical scenarios of managing a very large team of Optimus robots deployed to build factories or work in a refinery.
Competition From China
The billionaire, however, acknowledged the rising competition from Chinese companies in the Robotics sector. "I do think that by far, the biggest competition for humanoid robots will be from China," Musk said.
He also said that Chinese companies were "incredibly good" at scaling and manufacturing. However, he then shared that Tesla was confident that the Optimus robot was "much more capable than any robot that we are aware of under development in China."
Interestingly, Chinese companies have been pushing towards robots, with Li Auto Inc. (NASDAQ:LI) reportedly shifting the head of its autonomous driving team to instead lead the company's robotics efforts. Xpeng Inc. (NYSE:XPEV) has also been pushing to develop its own humanoid robot, dubbed IRON, which has been touted as a competitor to Tesla's Optimus.
Check out more of Benzinga’s Future Of Mobility coverage by following this link.
