Elon Musk Podcast How China could stop Elon Musk's Tesla Optimus Robots
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Nov 20, 2025 Elon Musk's whopping $1.2 trillion compensation has raised eyebrows, but so has the threat from Chinese automakers selling EVs at rock-bottom prices. The ambitious $20,000 Optimus robot is on the horizon, but engineering hurdles, like creating dexterous hands, remain daunting. There's also a talk about using Tesla's factories to deploy these bots for real-world tasks while battling skepticism over pricing and timing. Musk's vision isn't just about cars anymore; he's aiming to dominate the robotics landscape.
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Mass Product Strategy With High AI Costs
- Tesla targets a $20,000 Optimus by reusing car parts, scaling production, and vertically integrating manufacturing.
- Musk warns intelligence (training compute) will cost tens of billions, making AI spend a gating factor.
China Could Undercut Tesla's Robot Ramp
- Chinese firms can undercut Tesla on price by leveraging fast iteration and consumer-scale supply chains.
- That low-end competition could arrive before Tesla solves dexterous hands and training, threatening Optimus adoption.
Use Internal Pilots To Fund Training
- Tie Optimus to Tesla's AI stack and car data to sell capability, safety, and integration rather than competing only on price.
- Use internal deployments to generate data and predictable cash flow to fund expensive training.