Musk said that if Tesla is transformed into a robotics company, its valuation will reach $25 trillion.

On January 19th, according to Global Times Science and Technology citing foreign media Futurism, under the dual pressures of the continuous plunge in global automobile sales and the driver - assistance software being deeply mired in regulatory dilemmas, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is eager to find a new way out for the company, and the Optimus humanoid robot has become his latest obsession. Musk claims that this robot will transform Tesla into a robot company valued at $25 trillion, and its value proportion will far exceed that of the existing business.

According to Yicai Global, recently, Musk made a bold prediction in a three - hour in - depth podcast interview: General Artificial Intelligence (AGI) will be achievable by 2026. During the interview, Musk also mentioned the future of robots and automation. He predicted that AI - driven robots will become an important force in the production and service sectors and will be capable of surpassing existing professional skills in the next few years. For example, he mentioned that AI robots like Optimus may outperform human experts in certain fields such as surgery within the next three years. He believes that the advantages of robots lie in “extreme precision” and “shared experience”.

Musk predicts that by 2040, the number of robots will reach “10 billion or more”.

Holding these views, Musk has started to lead Tesla's transformation, betting the future business on robots: Tesla is gradually moving away from the electric vehicle track and trying to start a new growth cycle by riding the wave of the robot industry.

According to CCTV News, on January 2nd local time, the data released by Tesla showed that the company delivered 1.636 million vehicles globally in 2025, a year - on - year decrease of about 8.6%, with sales declining for two consecutive years. This is also the first time in Tesla's history that its annual electric vehicle sales have been surpassed by Chinese automaker BYD.

In response to entrepreneur Jason Calacanis' statement that “no one will remember that Tesla made cars, only that it mass - produced one billion Optimus robots”, Musk said bluntly that “it's very likely to come true”. This vision is also the core of Musk's tens - of - billions salary plan.

In September 2025, Tesla's board of directors approved Musk's sky - high salary plan. Two of the four product goals set by this plan are: the cumulative delivery of Tesla cars reaching 20 million and the deployment of one million Optimus robots before 2030.

However, according to Futurism, Tesla failed to achieve its original goal of producing 5,000 Optimus robots in 2025. The actual production was only a few hundred units, and they did not meet the factory's practical operation standards. Although it has overcome the problems of dynamic balance and upgraded the dexterous hands, the robot's autonomous operation still relies on remote control. In previous demonstrations, it even had difficulty walking smoothly through an empty corridor. The mass production of dexterous hands and the lack of a supply chain remain the core bottlenecks.

In November last year, there were reports that Tesla was preparing to expand its Texas Gigafactory again and planned to build a dedicated facility for the mass production of its humanoid robot Optimus to achieve an annual production capacity of 10 million units. The reports at that time showed that the mass - production schedule of Optimus at the Texas Gigafactory was still scheduled to start in 2027.

Tesla's financial report for the third quarter of 2025 showed that the company's revenue was $28.1 billion, a year - on - year increase of 12%, setting a new record for the same period. However, the net profit was $1.373 billion, a year - on - year decrease of 37%, and the operating profit margin was only 5.8%, the lowest in the past five years. It was over 10% in the same period in 2024. In addition, the adjusted net profit was $1.77 billion, a year - on - year decline of 29%.

This article is from “Jiemian News”, author: Peng Peng. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.