Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans ‘futuristic’ robotaxis, Optimus bot to start production

Wearing a black cowboy hat and a cheeky grin, Tesla CEO Elon Musk drove up onstage in an early Tesla and greeted a screaming crowd of thousands as he officially opened the company’s global headquarters in Austin, Texas.

A drone show preceded his appearance, forming his face in the sky — and later his favorite cryptocurrency, the dog of Dogecoin.

The head office is the site of Tesla’s 10 million-square-foot Texas gigafactory. With this latest plant opening, Tesla will double its capacity to about two million vehicles a year.

“We’re entering a new phase of Tesla’s future with six giant factories around the world,” said Musk, who just recently opened the Germany gigafactory. The other plants are in New York, Nevada, California, and China.

The Austin gigafactory will produce the Model Y, Roadster, Semi and Cybertruck, which is slated to start production in 2023. “This year is all about scaling up. Next year, there will be a massive wave of new products,” Musk promised.

What’s Next?

Tesla has been developing a humanoid robot called Optimus that Musk said is “really going to transform the world to a degree even greater than cars.”

“Basically, anything that humans don’t want to do Optimus will do,” he said. “Everyone says make sure it’s safe. … No Terminator stuff, that kind of thing.”

First announced in 2021, the robot now has a manufacturing date. Musk said the company has a “shot at production for version one of Optimus, hopefully next year.”

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