Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week, Musk said that Tesla is “planning to make its Optimus robots available for sale to the public by the end of 2027.” That is when Tesla will be confident that the robots will be highly reliable, safe and functional. The robots will be able to perform any task, he said.

Humanoid robots have long been a punchline, from clumsy factory demos to viral clips of machines tripping over cables. Tesla’s Optimus project arrived in that context, easy to mock and easier to dismiss as a distraction from electric cars.

Elon Musk is staring down several self-imposed deadlines this year, from Cybercab volume production to a much-hyped Roadster demo.

A quiet reveal hints that Tesla may have a new kind of rival, and it’s not just on four wheels. A surprise entrant is closing the gap between robotics and reality, pushing into Tesla's lane. The robot's maker touts its lifelike design and self-contained AI.

Tesla plans to take the Model S/X production space in Fremont and convert it into an Optimus factory, targeting 1M units/year in that footprint. Read more here.

Humanoid robot companies employ armies of human operators to train their machines by doing tasks like squatting and washing dishes.