The production volume of Tesla's humanoid robots has significantly fallen behind.

According to industry insiders, Tesla has only produced a few hundred humanoid robots so far this year, far less than the 5,000 units promised by Elon Musk.

Humanoid robots have become one of the focal areas in the global technology race. As one of the leading companies in this field, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, once predicted that the company's humanoid robots could boost its valuation to $25 trillion.

At last week's second - quarter earnings conference, Musk emphasized again that Tesla's business focus would shift to humanoid robots and robot taxis. Unfortunately, the humanoid robot business is reportedly facing great challenges.

Musk once promised that Tesla would produce at least 5,000 Optimus humanoid robots in 2025. However, more than half of 2025 has passed, and industry insiders revealed that Tesla has only produced a few hundred humanoid robots, which means Musk may miss his commitment on this key goal again.

Previously, Musk boasted that Tesla would have one million self - driving taxis in 2020. In 2021, he said that Tesla would achieve mass production of self - driving taxis in 2024. But none of these goals have been achieved.

What worries the market is that due to the weak demand for its main business, electric vehicles, Tesla has already faced severe financial challenges, making investors extremely sensitive to Musk's over - promising. If Tesla's humanoid robot plan cannot be advanced as scheduled, the market may be more disappointed with Tesla and demand significant changes.

The Uninstallable Hands

Last month, Milan Kovac, the former vice - president of engineering and the head of Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot department, announced his departure, leaving the department leaderless.

Shortly after Kovac's departure, Tesla sued a robot startup founded by former Optimus team members, accusing it of stealing trade secrets related to accelerating the production of robot hands.

Industry insiders once reported that Optimus is expected to perform a wide variety of tasks, so the robot's hands need to achieve the same flexibility and other performance as human hands, which has always been the focus of Musk's attention. It is reported that Tesla employees responsible for Optimus production must hand in their mobile phones and pass multiple layers of security checks during work to ensure the technological security of this robot.

The departure of the supervisor and the news of possible technology leakage fully reflect the internal difficulties of Tesla's humanoid robot department. There are reports that there are some basically complete Optimus robots lacking hands and forearms piling up in Tesla's factory.

One of Optimus' dilemmas is that Musk previously had extremely high expectations for the quality of this humanoid robot. Once the robot fails to meet customers' expectations after delivery, the reputation of the project will be severely damaged. Tesla's currently troubled Cybertruck electric pickup may be a precedent.

On the other hand, critics point out that humanoid robots used in factory operations actually do not require such high flexibility. Tesla's nit - picking on Optimus may become an expensive distraction, and its success is questionable.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily", author: Ma Lan. Republished by 36Kr with permission.