Tesla’s Optimus and the Humanoid Robot Race Nobody’s Ready For

The next time you get a package from Amazon (AMZN) delivered to your home, you may open the door to be greeted by a robot. 

According to The Verge, the ecommerce titan is testing out the idea of having robots transport orders from its vans to customers’ doorsteps

Specifically, the company has built a “humanoid park” – an indoor obstacle course where bipedal robots practice jumping out of electric Rivian (RIVN) vans and dropping off your latest Prime haul. 

This might be a hard future to grasp. But it’s also quickly becoming a reality… Because these robots – developed by Agility Robotics and China’s Unitree – are in training right now. 

Amazon’s vision is clear: millions of packages, 100% automated delivery.

Let that sink in.

While most people are still debating whether humanoid robots are even ‘feasible,’ Amazon is literally pushing them out the door.

And it isn’t alone…

The Robotic Workforce Already in Motion

We tend to think of the robotic age as something on the horizon. But oftentimes, the future comes faster than we think. And it seems this one is already here. 

Let’s take a quick tour of the robo-workforce that’s already clocked in:

Logistics

• Amazon employs over 750,000 robots in its warehouses. They pick, sort, lift, and move your packages with precise coordination.
• Walmart (WMT) has partnered with Symbotic (SYM), automating 100% of its regional fulfillment centers using fleets of AI-powered arms and bots.
• DHL is deploying Boston Dynamics’ Stretch to unload trucks.
• FedEx (FDX) previously trialed its own delivery bot, Roxo, and continues to pursue automation for last-mile delivery.

Manufacturing

• Tesla (TSLA) uses industrial robots for assembly, painting, welding – and is now building and internally using Optimus, its humanoid factory worker.
• BMW, Ford (F), Mercedes, and Toyota (TM) operate robotic assembly lines to produce their vehicles.
• Foxconn (FXCOF), Apple’s (AAPL) manufacturing partner, uses its ‘Foxbots’ to assemble electronics at rapid scale and speed.

Hospitality & Health

• Xenex robots sterilize hospital rooms with UV light.
• From Whiz vacuums to Pepper the robot concierge, hotels and malls alike have robots cleaning floors and serving customers.

Agriculture

• Deere & Co. (DE) is selling autonomous tractors that can plow fields without a human driver.
• Iron Ox operates AI-driven greenhouses where robotic arms tend crops.
• Blue River Technology (owned by Deere) uses AI sprayers to pinpoint and eliminate individual weeds.

Retail & Delivery

• Ocado (OCDDY) runs fully robotic grocery warehouses in the U.K.
• Starship Technologies has thousands of delivery bots roaming college campuses and suburban sidewalks.
• Wing, Alphabet’s drone division, just expanded to 100 new Walmart stores.

It’s not that robots will take jobs — they have already taken them, all across the global economy. And what we’re seeing now is just the start of this labor revolution.

From Cobots to Multitalented Humanoids

Now, most of the bots in action today aren’t full-blown humanoids. They’re cobots, short for collaborative robots: specialized machines built for niche tasks like picking up boxes, driving screws, and eviscerating germs.

But the next frontier? General-purpose, full-scale humanoid robots that walk like us, learn like us – and, ultimately, outperform us.

We aren’t basing this assertion on any theoreticals… 

Bots like these are already in development all over the world:

• As we mentioned before, Tesla’s Optimus has been shown autonomously walking around the company’s Fremont factory, doing things like attaching bolts and assembling small components.
• Figure AI has raised hundreds of millions in funds from Microsoft (MSFT), Nvidia (NVDA), and OpenAI and claims its robot can do warehouse tasks right now.
• Agility Robotics’ Digit is being tested in Amazon warehouses, recycling totes and handling bulk materials.
• Sanctuary AI is developing a robot that can understand natural language and operate tools.
• UBTech says it’ll start selling humanoid robots for just $20,000 this year. That’s less than the price of a used Toyota Corolla.

Of course, challenges remain around affordability, safety oversight, and public acceptance before humanoid robots become commonplace in most homes, factories, and hospitals.

But eventually, these humanoid robots will likely do more than just deliver packages or assemble products. They could cook meals, care for the elderly, stock shelves, staff security booths… run entire factories top to bottom. 

At scale, and after improvements in reliability and cost, robotic labor could be cheaper and faster than any human workforce in history…

Potentially making it one of the biggest economic transformations ever – and, thus, one of the most profitable opportunities in our lifetimes.

Why We’re Betting Big on Optimus

Of all the humanoid projects out there, the one we’re watching closest – and the one we’re most bullish on – is Tesla’s Optimus…

Because in our view, it checks every important box. It’s:

• Backed by one of the world’s richest and most capable companies
• Funded by the world’s largest AI training infrastructure
• Built on years of experience with autonomous vehicles and robotics
• Led by Elon Musk, one of the most ambitious and successful tech visionaries of our era

More importantly, we’ve seen it in action, working alongside humans on the factory floor.

And we believe that as Tesla refines the hardware, trains the software, and ramps up production, Optimus has a real shot at becoming the iPhone of humanoid robots.

Humanoid Robots: The Next Industrial Revolution?

Folks, the first wave of robots is already here, quietly doing the dirty, dull, and dangerous work. 

The second, led by futuristic humanoids, is just getting started.

While everyone else is distracted by political theater and debating whether humanoid robots are a viable investment, we’re watching them unload trucks, sterilize hospitals, and sprint out of electric vans to drop off cat food.

We’re confident that this is the start of the next industrial revolution.

And if so, the profit potential is vast.

Click here to learn about some of our favorite ways to play the rise of Optimus right now.

The post Tesla’s Optimus and the Humanoid Robot Race Nobody’s Ready For appeared first on InvestorPlace.

Source link