Elon Musk said on Wednesday that it is “probably true” that Tesla‘s Humanoid Robot will make people forget that the company previously manufactured electric vehicles.
The company’s Chief Executive Officer replied to a post on X, where user ‘Tesla Owners Sillicon Valley’ shared a panel discussion from last September’s All In Summit event.
American entrepreneur and investor Jason Calacanis said then that he had a first look at the (upcoming) Optimus 3 during a visit to Tesla with Musk.
“I can tell you now, nobody will remember that Tesla ever made a car,” Calacanis stated. “They will only remember Optimus and that he [Musk] is going to make a billion of those.”
According to him, “it’s going to be the most transformative technology product ever made in the history of humanity.”
“I think he’s already won,” Calacanis concluded, referring once again to Elon Musk, who also participated in the 2025 edition of the All In Summit.
Calacanis is one of the hosts of the event, based on the business and technology podcast with the same name.
Optimus 3 Production
At Tesla‘s Annual Shareholder Meeting last November, Musk announced that 1 million Optimus units will be built in Fremont, while 10 million units are planned for production in Texas yearly.
The company is expected to start mass production of the third-gen Optimus robot in 2027.
Two months before, interviewed by Calacanis and co-hosts Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks, and David Friedberg, Musk said that the costs of production will eventually hit $20,000.
“I think that the marginal cost of production once you hit a million units per year is probably around the $20,000 range,” he stated.
To the executive, “it sort of depends on how much you spend on the AI chip in the robot. And you need to achieve a lot of efficiencies in the actuators.”
As of late 2025, Tesla had reportedly started construction of the new factory for its Optimus humanoid robot on the Giga Texas facility.
Musk on Optimus 3
Musk has been granted a controversial pay package — that could reach up to $1 trillion — by the company’s shareholders last November.
It hinges on the completion of ambitious targets, such as Tesla‘s market capitalization of nearly $7.5 trillion.
It also ties rewards to large-scale deployment of next-generation products, including 1 million Robotaxis in operation and 1 million humanoid AI Bots delivered.
For the past couple months, Musk has made bold predictions on X regarding the potential of the robot.
On November 16, he posted that “Optimus will eliminate poverty and provide universal high income for all.”
About a month later, he reiterated that “Optimus will provide incredible healthcare for all,” alongside the Grok AI assistant, developed by his other company, xAI.
Tesla Valuation
Tesla shares have hit a new all-time high at $498.83 on December 22 and have since lost about 12% of its value.
Several analysts say Tesla‘s current valuation is being driven primarily by expectations around its upcoming autonomous initiatives, particularly the Optimus humanoid robot and the Robotaxi service.
At Canaccord, analyst George Gianarikas set a $551 price target, which he said is based on “Tesla‘s long-duration, generational growth opportunities in areas such as robotics, autonomy, energy storage, and ‘sustainable abundance,’ as well as the recently improved structural backdrop in the US.”
Wedbush is among the most bullish firms, with a $600 price target on the stock.
“Tesla is taking major steps in advancing its AI Revolution path with autonomous and robotics front and center heading into 2026, that will be a game changer and define Tesla’s future,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote late last year.
Even analysts with more cautious or bearish views acknowledge that these projects are central to the stock’s valuation.
UBS analyst Joseph Spak questioned whether “the market no longer cares about deliveries and only robotaxi and Optimus developments,” later writing that these initiatives “are already (more than) baked into the stock price.”
