Elon Musk Optimus Robot 2026 and Other Robots update.

Elon Musk Optimus Robot 2026 and Other Robots update, Elon Musk announced Tuesday, prior to Tesla’s earnings report, that they plan to market the Optimus humanoid robot by 2026. Already performing tasks on its own such as managing batteries in one of Tesla’s factories according to earnings reports, Optimus has begun being sold as part of an overall marketing plan.

“Tesla will launch low production humanoid robots for internal use next year and, hopefully, mass production for other companies by 2026,” according to an executive posted via X.
On Tuesday’s earnings call, Musk estimated the demand for humanoid general-purpose robots as being “well over 20 billion units.” To arrive at this figure he combined 8 billion individuals likely needing one with their industrial usage purposes.

Dates

Dates listed above are estimates and must be treated as such. Many things could happen between now and when production on Optimus begins; Musk had originally indicated production may begin in 2023 but is now suggesting 2025 as a possible start date.

We recognize Tesla has invested substantial funds in this venture. Chris Walti, former leader of Tesla’s Optimus program recently told me “Elon [Muskwas saying”We need to build an humanoid.” My team was selected as lead for this task and I became head of internal hiring process for them.” The events you witnessed on AI Day were due to these initiatives.” According to Walti at this time Optimus became top priority within Tesla.

Market conditions have undergone dramatic shifts since Tesla unveiled their Optimus 2021 project and released its spandex prototype, and many analysts claim that its announcement caused competitors to announce their projects sooner than they otherwise would have done.

Robotics Benefit

At first, robotics benefited from the influenza pandemic. Staff shortages resulted in greater investment as well as a revival in industrial automation; recent years’ explosion of interest surrounding generative AI has accelerated pace of development while stimulating interest towards “general purpose” robots.

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Demos may be impressive, but they only represent half the work that needs to be done between current systems and real general-purpose robots. The gap between ChatGPT products and synthetic ones capable of functioning with people and learning from them is much wider than it initially appears.

Software/AI are key factors here, but much work remains in building mechatronic systems that execute on these tasks at scale. Industry is looking increasingly toward humanoid robots as a solution; after all, humans designed the world for humans so why shouldn’t robots fit seamlessly in?

Tesla wasn’t the first company to experiment with humanoid form factors and, according to evidence available to us, is certainly not alone in that quest. While being first is important in this highly technological realm, we are only just at the start of humanoid robotic story!

These companies may not make it, while new companies with uncharted paths to success could emerge to replace them. Here is what the situation looks like as of July 2024.

1x

In 2023, GPT made headlines when they announced a $23.5 million funding round supported by Tiger Global and OpenAI investors. This action showed trust from GPT as it demonstrated their intention of creating an actual physical representation of its platform.

1X has announced its Series B budget at $100 Million and recruited some of the biggest names from companies like BMW and Tesla to its team. Recently, its videos showed its smiling-faced wheeled robot Eve responding to voice commands for household tasks like washing.

This company’s name alludes to their promise to present robots in 1X speed, one technique firms employ in making projects appear longer than they actually are.

Agility

Agility’s early entry is one of the reasons behind Digit’s rapid advancement towards commercialization compared with any other robot in its class. Following pilot programs involving Amazon and Google as partners, Agility revealed in June that Digit was indeed beyond pilot stage and into full commercialization mode.

Digit’s debut gig may not be glamorous, but that is precisely the purpose of this project. Now she is moving plastic containers through Spanx plant in Georgia.

Apptronik

Apptronik of Austin has long been developing humanoids as part of their Valkyrie collaboration with NASA. On March 18th they announced they were beginning trials at Mercedes-Benz warehouse.

Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics stands out as both an old and young contender on the robotics scene. Their initial hydraulic Atlas was first unveiled back in 2013, followed by an electric version shortly thereafter. Due to its longevity and flexibility, many in the business sat amazed watching it work.

So far, we’ve only seen a 40 second video showcasing this robot’s performance. At that time, Robert Playter, CEO at Hyundai which owns it was planning on starting testing machines sometime between 2025-2028, with full scale production possibly happening as soon as 2029-2030.

Figure

Figure has recently announced a huge $675 million capital raise, from investors such as Microsoft, OpenAI, Amazon, Nvidia and Intel Capital – with this round valued by its South Bay firm at approximately $2.6 billion post-money. Furthermore, Figure announced in spring 2018 that their 01 robot would be deployed by BMW Manufacturing Plant located in South Carolina for use. Earlier this month a video showing this took place was also made public.

Sanctuary AI

Sanctuary AI’s pilot programs with Magna began in April. This AI’s Phoenix is the first humanoid to walk on two legs; prior models were sold exclusively in Canada.

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Q&A

When will Elon Musk release the Optimus robot?

Elon Musk has set the release date for 2026.

How do other robots compare to Optimus?

The status of other robots varies; see current developments for comparison.