Elon Musk Says Tesla's Optimus Bot Could One Day Perform Surgery, Calls It 'Infinite Money Glitch'
Elon Musk, during Tesla's Q3 earnings call, touted the potential of the Optimus Bot, claiming it could perform surgeries and revolutionize healthcare. He described it as an 'infinite money glitch' due to its productivity, operating 24/7 without breaks. Musk envisions a future where Optimus assists in various roles, including caregiving and teaching. He anticipates unveiling Optimus V3 in early 2024, with plans for mass production. Musk believes that Optimus could account for 80% of Tesla's value, potentially leading to a $25 trillion market cap for the company.
Along with Tesla‘s (NASDAQ:TSLA) third-quarter financial results, released on Wednesday, CEO Elon Musk hyped up the company’s Optimus Bot.
During the company’s Q3 earnings call, Musk claimed that “Optimus will be an incredible surgeon,” and that Tesla will make sure the robot is "safe and everything.”
Musk added that he envisions a world without poverty and with everyone having access to medical care. "I'm excited to work with the Tesla team to make that happen," he said.
Tesla unveiled a working prototype of Optimus at its AI Day event in 2022. Since then, Musk has boasted that, in addition to performing standard household work (i.e., cooking, mowing lawns). The humanoid robot, he says, could take on significant jobs, such as babysitting, teaching, helping parents with their children, or taking care of the elderly.
Earlier this year at the X Takeover, Musk said "Optimus could be like a 24-hour day nurse or helper to someone who's paraplegic or needs physical help."
"We're also on the cusp of something really tremendous with Optimus, which I think is likely to be or has potential to be the biggest product of all time,” Musk said, claiming it has five times the productivity of a person, since it can technically operate 24 hours a day.
According to Musk, Optimus can be plugged in continuously, without needing charging breaks.
"Optimus at scale is the infinite money glitch," he added.
For years, Musk has said that millions of people will want their own robots. He compared the humanoid to a "personal C-3PO or R2-D2, but even better."
The company expects to unveil Optimus V3 in the first quarter.
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Optimus A Future Catalyst
Musk expressed the difficulties on building Optimus during the earnings call and also shared that he has a major concern of how much voting control he has with Tesla before the company builds an "enormous robot army."
"I don't feel comfortable wielding that robot army if I don't have at least a strong influence," Musk said.
The unveiling of the V3 prototype is considered a major catalyst for Tesla in 2026.
Musk said the company will build a production line for Optimus able to build millions of units. The Tesla CEO expressed confidence that future versions of Optimus 4 and Optimus 5 will sell 10 million units and 50 to 100 million units, respectively.
In a response to a user on X earlier this year, Musk stressed the importance of scaling FSD and Optimus, calling them the "biggest factors" in Tesla achieving its Master Plan Part 4.
“80% of Tesla’s value will be Optimus,” Musk tweeted.
Musk previously said that a $25 trillion market capitalization for Tesla is possible should it achieve all future AI and autonomous goals.
With the call-out of 80% of the company’s value, Musk is placing a valuation of around $20 trillion for Optimus.
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