“An era will come when everyone owns a humanoid robot.”

Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tesla, said on the 22nd (local time) at the World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos Forum) in Davos, Switzerland, that the widespread adoption of humanoid robots resembling human appearance is imminent. He particularly stated that consumer sales of Tesla’s humanoid robot “Optimus” are scheduled to begin next year, presenting an optimistic outlook for artificial intelligence (AI) and the robotics industry.

In a conversation that day with Larry Fink, WEF interim co-chair and chairman of BlackRock, Musk said, “I expect the commercial sales timing of (Tesla’s Optimus) humanoid robot to be around the end of next year.” He added that the robot’s functionality, as well as its reliability and safety, must reach a very high level before sales of household humanoid robots can begin. Regarding the Optimus to be launched in the future, he said it “will be able to perform virtually any action that a human wants.” He predicted that the robots would be used in a wide range of areas, from household chores to product manufacturing operations.

Tesla is currently using Optimus in some production processes while improving its performance. Musk said that by the end of this year, Optimus is expected to be able to carry out more complex tasks. He forecast that the broad utilization of robots will enable mass production of robots and that “there will be more robots than humans.” He argued, “Robotics and AI are the only way to drive explosive growth of the global economy, solve poverty, and lead everyone to prosperity.”

On AI technology, he predicted, “By the end of this year or next year, AI that is smarter than humans will emerge, and within the next five years, AI that is smarter than humans will become widespread.”

He also predicted that autonomous driving technology would spread rapidly this year. He said Tesla’s autonomous driving technology, Full Self-Driving (FSD), is expected to be approved in Europe and China next month, and that operation of “robotaxis” using autonomous driving technology will be expanded across the United States within the year.

Some observers voice caution regarding Musk’s optimism on humanoid robots. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Axios pointed out that “contrary to Musk’s assurances, there have been many cases where launch schedules for next-generation products such as robotaxis and the Cybertruck have been repeatedly delayed.”

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