Officials seek assurances that bot won’t be used for military applications
Elon Musk says supply chain disruption in China held up delivery of a key component for Tesla’s “Optimus” robot, with authorities reportedly demanding an export license and guarantees about military applications.…
During an earnings call following Tesla’s lackluster calendar Q1 results in which revenue slumped 20 percent to $12.925 billion and net income plunged 70 percent year-on-year to $420 million, Musk talked of difficulties in obtaining rare earth magnets used in robot motors.
“We’re addressing this issue with China,” he stated. “We hope to obtain a permit to utilize the rare earth magnets. China seeks guarantees that these won’t be employed for military applications, which they definitely aren’t. These will solely be incorporated into a human-like robot. Therefore, it’s not part of any weapons system.”
It’s not like there’s an established supply chain for the motors, gearboxes, electronics, actuators—pretty much everything in the Optimus except for the AI4, which is essentially identical to the Tesla AI computer used in their cars.
When you deal with a sophisticated manufactured item, it operates at the pace of the most sluggish and unfortunate part within the whole assembly. Roughly speaking, this involves around 10,000 distinct components.
The wealthy entrepreneur, who had earlier forecasted that a Tesla vehicle could complete an autonomous journey from Los Angeles to New York, stated during the conference call: “If anyone claims they can accurately foresee the production scaling of a genuinely innovative product, they simply do not understand the situation.”
Musk has grand plans for the Tesla bot and told investors that thousands of them would be produced “by the end of this year.”
Limited production of Optimus – around 5,000 units – will see the robots used internally in Tesla factories. Another run is scheduled for 2026 and these may be sold to paying customers.
As for predicting the robot’s wider production ramp – even with the supply chain issues – Musk said: “I feel confident in getting to a million units per year in less than five years. So, by 2030, I feel confident in predicting a million Optimus units per year. It might be 2029.”
Musk, who also confirmed in the call that he would be reducing his DOGE duties, has said Optimus will eventually be a bigger earner for Tesla than the company’s self-driving vehicles.
Considering the company’s recent trajectory, this might not be as much of an achievement as it once appeared. ®
