On Thursday, Elon Musk gave wide-ranging remarks that included new timelines for Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) humanoid robot and Full Self-Driving software.
Making a surprise debut at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Musk said Tesla could begin selling its humanoid robot, Optimus, “probably sometime next year.”
Musk has been talking about Optimus since 2021 and has repeatedly framed the robot as a product that could eventually reshape the global economy.
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Despite the bold claims, reports suggest Tesla is still working through technical hurdles, including challenges related to Optimus’ hands.
On the other hand, China’s Unitree Robotics shipped over 5,500 full-body humanoid robots in 2025, far surpassing U.S. competitors like Tesla, Figure AI and Agility Robotics, which each shipped about 150 units, reported South China Morning Post earlier this week.
According to Counterpoint Research, in 2025, approximately 16,000 more humanoid robots were deployed globally, with China responsible for over 80% of these installations.
Musk also said Tesla hopes to receive regulatory approval as early as next month to deploy its driver-supervised Full Self-Driving system in Europe, with China potentially following on a similar timeline.
“We hope to get supervised Full Self-Driving approval in Europe, hopefully next month, and then maybe a similar timing for China,” Musk said.
Elon Musk’s full appearance at the World Economic Forum:
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Deepwater Asset Management’s managing partner Gene Munster said the market reaction reflected cautious optimism rather than exuberance.
In a post on X, Munster called Musk’s comments “slightly positive,” noting that even limited Optimus sales would represent meaningful progress.
Elon just spoke for 30min at the World Economic $TSLA moved up 1% on his comments and is up 1.5%. Nasdaq up 1%.
Optimus:
“Probably sometime next year we’ll be selling humanoid robots to the public.”
My take: slight positive because it confirms things moving forward. Last year…