OpenAI Robotics Launch Hands Tesla Its First Credible AI Native Competitor in the Humanoid Race
Tesla stock fell 3.57% on Monday after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the launch of OpenAI Robotics. The new division builds humanoid robots for the physical world.
Altman posted on X that the new unit is hiring across hardware, controls, systems, and machine learning, per Yahoo Finance.
The near-term focus is robots that support skilled workers on infrastructure projects.
Altman described a long-term vision of a personal robot for everyone, per Yahoo Finance.
That vision maps directly onto Tesla's Optimus program, which Musk has marketed as Tesla's path to a multitrillion-dollar valuation.
Tesla has already made a structural bet on that roadmap.
Model S and X production ended in early May 2026, freeing the Fremont assembly line for a dedicated Optimus production cell.
The factory conversion is expected to wrap up in late July or August. Fremont is targeting annual capacity of roughly 1M units, per the same report.
The Optimus Gen 3 reveal is slated for the same window, timed to a timeline Musk flagged during Tesla's Q1 earnings call.
Tesla currently has some Gen 3 units running inside Gigafactory Texas and Fremont, handling repetitive tasks like battery assembly.
Scaled production hasn't started.
Musk and Altman's Rivalry Enters Hardware
This isn't their first fight.
Musk sued Altman over OpenAI's conversion from a nonprofit to a for-profit company, and a jury sided with Altman last month, per Barron's.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives put an 80% probability on a Tesla and SpaceX merger happening in 2027, per the same Barron's report.
Tesla disclosed a $2B equity stake in SpaceX in its Q1 filing, per the CoinCentral report. The two companies are jointly building a chip fabrication plant in Texas called Terafab.
SpaceX is set to IPO on the Nasdaq in mid-June, targeting a valuation of $1.75T to $2T, per Yahoo Finance. The offering aims to raise up to $75B, which would make it the largest IPO in history.
Musk holds roughly 42% equity and 85% voting power in SpaceX ahead of that offering.
With an AI-native competitor now in the market, Tesla's Optimus timeline has become one of the most closely watched production ramps in robotics.
