Elon Musk is betting Tesla’s new humanoid robot, Optimus, will become the most important product in company history—an AI-powered machine capable of learning from human behavior and video, now poised to revolutionize industrial labor.
At a Glance
- Tesla’s Optimus robot can learn tasks by watching humans or online videos
- Demonstrated abilities include vacuuming, garbage pickup, and basic assembly
- Optimus will be deployed in Tesla factories by the end of 2025
- Musk projects production of millions of units annually within five years
- Tesla claims it alone has the software and robotics foundation for mass-scale humanoids
Learning from Humans—Not Code
Tesla has unveiled a major leap in robotic autonomy: Optimus now learns by watching. In newly released footage, the humanoid robot performs household chores and factory tasks after observing people. Elon Musk declared that Tesla is “the only company with all the ingredients for making intelligent humanoid robots at scale,” and has predicted Optimus will become Tesla’s “biggest product of all time” (Quartz).
Watch a report: Elon Musk Just Dropped This Video of Tesla Optimus Robot Dancing.
From YouTube to the Assembly Line
Tesla engineer Milan Kovac revealed that the company is now training Optimus by having it watch internet videos of people performing everyday tasks. This new form of video-based learning allows the robot to acquire skills without manual programming—marking a breakthrough in AI learning. “One of our goals is to have Optimus learn straight from internet videos of humans doing tasks,” Kovac explained (DNYUZ).
Musk anticipates that Tesla will be producing millions of Optimus units annually within five years to meet what he calls an “insatiable” global demand for humanoid labor. The company expects early deployments to begin in Tesla’s own factories by late 2025.
A New Industrial Era
Musk is confident the impact of Optimus will dwarf even Tesla’s electric vehicle business. “This is a super big deal,” he said, describing a future where robots handle everything from logistics to assembly-line work. Tesla’s software edge—developed for self-driving cars—is now powering its robotics platform, giving it a major advantage in industrial AI (DNYUZ).
If successful, Optimus won’t just change how factories operate—it could redefine the very nature of work. As Musk puts it, the robotics revolution may end up being “10 times bigger than the next largest product ever made.”
