Musk calls Optimus his biggest product

Elon Musk said on Tesla’s April 22 earnings webcast that Optimus could become the company’s “biggest product ever,” not just a factory tool. (tesla.com) (usatoday.com) Optimus is Tesla’s humanoid robot, a two-legged machine the company says can use the same artificial-intelligence stack it builds for cars. Tesla’s investor materials said the robot is progressing ahead of mass production. (tesla.com 1) (tesla.com 2) Tesla’s Q1 2026 update said the company is preparing lines for Cybercab, Semi and Optimus while expanding the computing infrastructure behind robotics and robotaxi software. The same deck said Tesla launched unsupervised Robotaxi rides in Dallas and Houston in April. (tesla.com) On the call, Musk also declined to pin down a broader Cybercab rollout timeline and kept returning to safety and regulatory approvals. Tesla’s April materials said it was testing and permitting expansion into additional major U.S. metros. (tesla.com) (usatoday.com) The backdrop is a much bigger spending plan. Reuters reported Tesla raised its 2026 capital-expenditure target to more than $25 billion as Musk pushes artificial intelligence, robotics and custom chips. (reuters.com) (bloomberg.com) That spending comes as Tesla’s core car business is under pressure. Tesla said it produced more than 408,000 vehicles and delivered more than 358,000 in the first quarter ended March 31, 2026. (tesla.com 1) (tesla.com 2) Musk has also been warning investors not to expect an instant ramp. In January, Reuters reported him saying early production of Cybercab and Optimus would be “agonizingly slow” because so many parts and processes are new. (reuters.com) (finance.yahoo.com) That leaves Tesla trying to sell two timelines at once: July or August 2026 for the start of Optimus production in Fremont, and next year for wider shipments outside Tesla’s own factories. The closing message from Musk was that Tesla will move when the robots and robotaxis are safe enough to scale. (seekingalpha.com) (tesla.com)