Elon Musk admitted on Tesla's Q4 2025 earnings call that the company doesn't have any Optimus robots doing useful work in its factories right now. This is a striking admission, given that Musk has spent the past two years claiming the opposite.
' However, this was later disputed by multiple supply chain reports throughout 2025, which indicated that Tesla's Optimus program was in 'shambles,' with the head of the program departing and production being delayed. Despite this, Musk continued to make optimistic predictions about the technology, including stating that 'several thousand Optimus robots will be doing useful things by the end of the year' in January 2025.
However, a year later, he is now admitting that the number is zero. Tesla's progress on Optimus has been slow, with the company planning to unveil the Gen 3 version of Optimus in Q1 this year and start production before the end of 2026.
Despite this, Musk's credibility on leading the effort is questionable due to his history of making false predictions about the technology. The admission that no robots are currently doing useful work directly contradicts years of claims from both Musk and Tesla's official communications.
This admission highlights a common problem in the development of complex technologies like Optimus: building hardware before software is ready. It also raises questions about the credibility of Elon Musk as a leader in this field, given his history of making false predictions about the technology.
