Tesla reveals the price range of Optimus Gen2, its personal C-3PO

“The future should look like the future,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said at Tesla’s “We Robot” special event held in Burbank, California earlier this week. Indeed, Tesla’s long-awaited autonomous robot taxi, Cybertaxiand its full-size truck counterpart, Cybervanseemed straight out of famous sci-fi movies.

But as the event’s name suggests, the vision of the future wouldn’t be complete without robots: several Optimus Gen 2s, the latest version of Tesla’s humanoid robot, were found serving drinks, talking to guests and even dancing at the event.

Tesla recently introduced Optimus as a possible replacement for factory workers in China and other countries. Musk has previously said he expects Optimus to start working in Tesla factories in 2025 and be available to other companies in 2026.

At the event, however, the Tesla chief revealed his expanded vision for a home robot that can do “anything you want: take care of your baby, walk the dog, mow the lawn, go shopping, be your friend, serve drinks.”

He also gave a more precise estimate of the cost of the robot: after its “large-scale production,” Optimus should cost between $20,000 and $30,000. Previously, Musk said that the price of the robot would be about half the cost of a car.

Staying true to his sci-fi vision, the Tesla CEO called Optimus a hybrid of R2D2 and C-3PO, the famous droids from the Star Wars film series.

Since the first generation of Optimus was introduced in 2022, Tesla has emphasized continuity between its cars and the robot. “Everything we’ve developed for our cars—the battery electronics, the advanced gear motors, the software, the AI ​​output computer—all of that really applies to a humanoid robot,” Musk said at the event. “A robot with arms and legs, not a robot with wheels.”

Tesla won’t be the first to bring a home robot to market. Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics has already launched a home service robot called Spot, priced at a hefty $74,500. BMW and Open AI support robots produced by Californian company Fig. Meanwhile, Nvidia is developing Project GR00T to also create humanoid robots.

Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs predicted that the annual global humanoid robot market could reach $38 billion by 2035, with robot shipments totaling 1.4 million units for both industrial and consumer applications. He also said robots could become more affordable as their production costs have dropped more than expected, leading to faster time to market.