At Tesla's 2025 annual shareholder meeting, Elon Musk unveiled ambitious plans for the Optimus humanoid robot, stating it would eliminate poverty and provide superior medical care. Shareholders approved Musk's $1 trillion performance-based pay package, which includes targets for delivering one million Optimus units over the next decade. Musk highlighted the robot's potential to transform the economy through sustainable abundance.
Tesla's 2025 Annual Shareholder Meeting, held in Austin, Texas, featured Elon Musk's bold predictions for the Optimus humanoid robot, first unveiled in 2022. Musk described Optimus as 'the biggest product of all time by far, bigger than cell phones, bigger than anything,' emphasizing its role in achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). He stated, 'People often talk about eliminating poverty or giving everyone amazing medical care. There’s actually only one way to do that, and that’s with the Optimus robot.' Musk added that Optimus would 'actually eliminate poverty' and provide medical care 'better than the best human surgeon with a level of precision that is beyond human capabilities.' He also suggested the robot could prevent crime by following individuals instead of traditional incarceration.
Shareholders approved Musk's $1 trillion (£760 billion) pay package, tying compensation to ambitious goals: growing Tesla's market capitalization from $1.1 trillion to $8.5 trillion, operating profit from $17 billion to $400 billion annually, delivering 20 million vehicles cumulatively, securing 10 million active Full Self-Driving subscriptions, deploying one million Optimus robots, and operating one million Robotaxis. The package requires Musk to oversee production of one million AI bots over the next decade.
Musk outlined production plans, noting a pilot line in Fremont, California, capable of one million units annually, scaling to 10 million at Gigafactory Texas, and potentially 100 million elsewhere, even joking about Mars. Optimus, priced at $20,000 to $30,000 in volume production, would offer five times human productivity by operating 24/7, leading to 'sustainable abundance' where work becomes optional and universal high income prevails. Musk predicted it would boost the global economy by a factor of 10 or 100. During the event, an Optimus robot danced on stage, demonstrating improved movements to applause.
Broader context includes industry momentum: a Morgan Stanley report forecasts Apple earning $133 billion annually from humanoids by 2040, while Forrester analyst Brian Hopkins noted falling costs enabling uses in warehouses, elder care, and security, potentially disrupting industries by 2030. OpenAI's Sam Altman echoed that humanoids are incoming, though the world may not be ready. Musk reiterated a 2022 X post: 'Tesla AI might play a role in AGI, given that it trains against the outside world, especially with the advent of Optimus.'
