Humanoid robots have long been a punchline, from clumsy factory demos to viral clips of machines tripping over cables. Tesla’s Optimus project arrived in that context, easy to mock and easier to dismiss as a distraction from electric cars.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week, Musk said that Tesla is “planning to make its Optimus robots available for sale to the public by the end of 2027.” That is when Tesla will be confident that the robots will be highly reliable, safe and functional. The robots will be able to perform any task, he said.

Before the Q4 2025 earnings call, Tesla provided a few unsupervised Robotaxi rides in Austin, but since then, it appears that unmanned robotaxis disappeared