Is Tesla’s Optimus robot useless? Renowned investor Ross Gerber said bluntly: it won’t generate revenue in the short term

Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus has been praised by Musk as “the most important product ever,” but well-known investor Ross Gerber recently poured cold water on it, saying it likely won’t generate revenue in the short term.
(Background: Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus could be launched for sale by the end of next year at the fastest, while Musk painted the dream that Tesla’s market value will rise 50x and it will earn $1 trillion a year)
(Additional background: Gerber Kawasaki CEO compared Bitcoin and Ethereum to “cockroaches”: you can’t kill them!)

Table of contents

Toggle

• The biggest obstacle to manufacturing humanoid robots
• Consumer-centered business opportunities
• Optimus latest progress

Gerber Kawasaki CEO Ross Gerber said recently that getting Optimus robots to achieve commercial success may still take a long time for Musk, because humanoid robots are not only difficult to manufacture, but also unlikely to bring in real revenue in the short term.

The biggest obstacle to manufacturing humanoid robots

Gerber noted that replicating humans’ unique physical capabilities is the biggest technical bottleneck for humanoid robots. Seemingly routine human actions—walking, grasping, balancing—are complicated tasks for robots that require large numbers of sensors, motors, and algorithms to carry out.

Gerber believes Optimus still needs more time to iterate in order to reach production-line level stability.

Consumer-centered business opportunities

Beyond the manufacturing challenges, Gerber also questioned the consumer-centered business model for humanoid robots. He pointed out that the current scale of investment and the potential for short-term revenue are not proportional; in other words, the market’s expectations for Optimus are moving too fast.

Musk previously said Optimus could make Tesla’s market value rise 50x and earn $1 trillion per year, but Gerber thinks that’s only the most optimistic scenario.

Optimus latest progress

Optimus research and development has not stalled. In July this year, in an interview, Musk called the humanoid robot Tesla’s “most important product ever” and revealed that Optimus could be ready for sales as early as the end of 2027.

Gerber Kawasaki is an investment firm founded by Gerber in 1987, managing more than $2 billion in assets, with long-term investments in technology, healthcare, and sustainable energy. Gerber himself is also well known for being bullish on Bitcoin and Ethereum, and has compared crypto to “indestructible cockroaches.”

This article is sourced from a report by TLA Investors, edited and translated by BlockTempo Editor Flip