Overview
- Vice president of AI software Ashok Elluswamy told Autopilot and Optimus employees at an all-hands that 2026 will be the hardest year of their lives, describing the push as a rallying cry.
- Elon Musk has said Tesla expects to begin fully driverless robotaxi operations in Austin within months and to run service in roughly eight to ten U.S. metropolitan areas by the end of 2025.
- Tesla has also targeted more than 1,000 ride-hailing vehicles on the road by late 2025, moving beyond today’s supervised pilots.
- Production of the Optimus humanoid robot is targeted for late 2026, with Musk cautioning that scaling will take time because the robot contains about 10,000 unique parts.
- Shareholders this month approved a milestone-based pay package for Musk that includes goals of deploying 1 million robotaxis and producing 1 million humanoid robots.