July 23, 2024 10:42 IST Follow Us Tesla boss Elon Musk envisions Optimus to have use cases beyond industrial work. (Image Credit: Tesla) Anyone looking to have Tesla’s Optimus work in their factories or walk their dog may have to wait for another two years as CEO Elon Musk has revealed that the humanoid robots will only be ready for use by 2026. However, they could be seen on the Tesla factory floor a lot sooner. “Tesla will have genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production for Tesla internal use next year and, hopefully, high production for other companies in 2026,” Musk said in a post on X on Monday, July 22. Tesla will have genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production for Tesla internal use next year and, hopefully, high production for other companies in 2026 | 15 robots powered by AI and their insane demo videos “I think people will start to regard their personal Optimus robot as sort of a friend,” the billionaire has said in the past. “You can just ask it to walk your dog, take care of your house, babysit the kids, cook dinner, play the piano – so it’s a generalised humanoid robot,” he added. Who else is building humanoid robots? Several major players in the robotics industry have developed prototypes that appear to be far more sophisticated than Tesla’s Optimus. Over the years, Hyundai-backed Boston Dynamics has showed off many bipedal robot prototypes that are capable of standing on one leg, doing backflips, and picking themselves up when they fall, among other actions. Japanese carmaker Honda has also been making steady progress with its advanced robot called ASIMO that is mainly designed to interact and assist humans with everyday tasks rather than heavy duty, factory work. More recently, BMW joined hands with Microsoft and Nvidia-backed startup Figure to deploy humanoid robots in the German car manufacturer’s US facility.