- Tesla says Optimus is working on the factory floor.
- The company said in an X post that two of the humanoid robots were deployed in a factory.
- Elon Musk called Optimus Tesla the most valuable product, but there is still a long way to go.
It looks like Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, may finally be helping build the company’s cars.
In a summary of what the company has achieved since 2018, ahead of the shareholder vote on Elon Musk’s multibillion-dollar pay package, Tesla said it has deployed two Optimus robots “performing factory tasks autonomously.”
It’s not clear which factory the robots are operating in or what tasks they are performing.
Business Insider contacted Tesla for confirmation but did not immediately hear back.
On Tesla’s most recent earnings call in April, Musk said Optimus would be able to perform factory functions by the end of the year and could go on sale by the end of 2025.
Musk made some big predictions about Tesla’s AI-powered humanoid, suggesting on the same earnings call that Optimus was more valuable than anything else Tesla is making.
Musk told shareholders that once the “sentient humanoid robot” became a reality, “there would be no meaningful limit to the size of the economy.”
Optimus has come a long way from a man dressed as a robot, but it still falls short of Musk’s vision.
Tesla released a series of videos showing the humanoid robot doing squats, picking up an egg and folding a shirt – although Musk later clarified that Optimus was not capable of doing this autonomously.
The billionaire faces competition in his mission to equip his factories with an army of automatons.
Tesla rival BMW signed a deal with robotics startup Figure in January that will see its robots deployed at the automaker’s South Carolina factory.
Electric vehicle makers in China, which Elon Musk identified as Tesla’s biggest threat, are also experimenting with the technology.
Dongfeng Motors recently reached a deal with Chinese robotics company Ubtech to deploy its robots on production lines. Nio also piloted the use of Ubtech’s “Walker S” humanoid robot.
