Tesla’s Optimus Robot Struggles to Stay Upright as Elon Musk Pushes Ambitious $8.5 Trillion Vision
Elon Musk's vision of Tesla's Optimus robots eliminating poverty and rendering human labor obsolete remains distant. Despite bold claims during Q3 2025 earnings that these bots would generate "infinite" revenue and propel Tesla to an $8.5 trillion valuation, current prototypes can't maintain balance without human intervention. Engineers routinely hoist fallen units like malfunctioning vending machines across Tesla's Palo Alto campus.
The development journey reveals startling gaps between ambition and reality. What began as a kitchenette project with homemade actuators now features six-foot-tall robots that spend most cycles observing office workers—training to navigate basic environments without colliding with chairs or pets. Musk has staked a $1 trillion performance bonus on delivering one million units, though none currently demonstrate market-ready functionality.
