Errol Musk Says Tesla Could Hit US$8 Trillion Valuation Once Optimus Robots Launch
Errol Musk claims Tesla could reach $8 trillion valuation once Optimus humanoid robots launch commercially by 2027. Learn what this means for Tesla’s future.
SEO Title: Tesla Optimus Robot Valuation | Errol Musk’s US$8 Trillion Claim
Deck: Errol Musk told Russian state outlet RIA Novosti that Tesla’s market capitalisation — currently sitting at roughly US$1.23 trillion — could climb to approximately US$8 trillion once the company’s Optimus humanoid robots reach commercial launch, a milestone Elon Musk has previously targeted for the end of 2027.
Introduction
Speaking to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Errol Musk — South African businessman and father of Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk — made a striking claim about the electric-vehicle company’s long-term worth: that Tesla’s valuation could reach approximately US$8 trillion once its Optimus humanoid robots enter the commercial market. The statement arrives at a moment when Tesla’s current market capitalisation stands at an estimated US$1.23 trillion, making the projected figure roughly six-and-a-half times its present size.
“Tesla will also be worth about 8 trillion, especially when Tesla’s Optimus robots come out,” Errol Musk told RIA Novosti, in remarks that have since drawn wide attention across financial and technology media.
The forecast sits within a broader shift in how Tesla is positioning itself publicly — less as an automotive company and more as a robotics and artificial-intelligence enterprise. Errol Musk emphasised in the same interview that Tesla’s vehicle manufacturing operations are now taking a back seat to Optimus and other emerging developments within the company. That repositioning, if it holds, would represent one of the most dramatic pivots by a major publicly listed manufacturer in recent memory.
With Automotive Output Stepping Back, Tesla’s Robot Ambitions Are Now Front and Centre
With Optimus commanding an increasing share of Tesla’s internal priorities, the question of what the company is actually building toward has become more pointed. This is not a simple car company making a side bet on robotics.
It is, by Errol Musk’s account, a robotics company that still makes cars — a reordering of identity, a reordering of capital allocation, and a reordering of investor expectation.
Errol Musk’s interview framing was explicit on this point: automotive production is currently secondary. Optimus, along with other unspecified initiatives, has become the company’s stated priority. That language mirrors comments Elon Musk has made in earnings calls and on his social media platform X, where he has repeatedly characterised Optimus as Tesla’s most important product — not the Model Y, not the Cybertruck, and not the forthcoming more affordable vehicle line.
Tesla first unveiled an Optimus prototype in September 2022 at its AI Day event. At the time, the demonstration was widely mocked — a human in a robot suit walked across the stage — but subsequent iterations have shown meaningful mechanical and software progress. By late 2025, Optimus units were appearing at promotional events in major Western cities, including a demonstration at the Mall of Berlin in December 2025, where a robot distributed popcorn to attendees and performed live task demonstrations.
From Prototype to Commercial Sale, a Timeline That Now Has a Stated Deadline
From a 2022 prototype to an anticipated commercial launch, the Optimus development arc spans at least five years of engineering effort and carries a hard deadline attached to it. Elon Musk has publicly stated that Tesla intends to begin selling Optimus robots to external customers by the end of 2027. That timeline, if met, would mark the moment at which Errol Musk’s US$8 trillion valuation claim becomes testable against real-world market conditions.
Optimus is designed as a general-purpose humanoid robot built specifically to perform tasks that are unsafe, repetitive, or monotonous. Tesla’s stated intention is not to confine it to factory floors. The robot is expected to operate beyond industrial environments — a claim that, if realised at scale, would open an addressable market far larger than manufacturing automation alone. Domestic use cases, elder care, logistics, and retail environments have all been discussed in industry circles as potential deployment contexts.
Errol Musk’s figure of US$8 trillion implicitly prices in that broader commercial potential. For context, no publicly traded company in history has sustained a US$8 trillion market capitalisation. Apple, the world’s most valuable company at various points, has traded close to US$3.5 trillion at its peak. An US$8 trillion Tesla would represent a valuation larger than the current combined market cap of Apple and Microsoft.
Behind the US$8 Trillion Figure Is a Bet on Volume, Not Unit Price
The real story here is not the headline number, but the logic that would have to hold for it to be reached — and that logic rests entirely on volume.
A humanoid robot sold as a consumer or light-commercial product at a price point accessible enough to generate mass adoption would need to move at a scale comparable to the smartphone market to justify a valuation in that range. Analysts who have modelled Optimus revenues for Tesla have generally used assumptions of millions of units annually, price points in the range of US$20,000 to US$30,000 per unit, and gross margins above 50 percent — a combination that would require manufacturing efficiency and supply chain discipline that Tesla has not yet demonstrated at that product category.
Errol Musk did not provide a methodology for his US$8 trillion estimate. The figure appears to reflect a directional belief rather than a modelled projection. That distinction matters for anyone reading the claim as investment-grade guidance — it is not. It is a public statement by a family member of the company’s chief executive, made to a foreign state news outlet, and carries no formal standing with Tesla’s investor relations function.
What it does reflect, however, is the internal narrative that appears to be circulating among those close to Elon Musk: that Optimus, if it works at scale, rewrites Tesla’s category entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Tesla Optimus Robot and the US$8 Trillion Valuation Claim
What did Errol Musk say about Tesla’s future valuation? Errol Musk, the South African businessman and father of Elon Musk, told Russian state news outlet RIA Novosti that Tesla could reach a valuation of approximately US$8 trillion once the company’s Optimus humanoid robots are commercially launched.
What is Tesla’s current market capitalisation? As of the time of reporting, Tesla’s market capitalisation is estimated at approximately US$1.23 trillion, making the US$8 trillion figure cited by Errol Musk roughly six-and-a-half times the company’s present market value.
When does Tesla plan to begin selling Optimus robots? Elon Musk has publicly stated that Tesla intends to begin selling Optimus robots to external customers by the end of 2027.
What is the Tesla Optimus robot designed to do? Optimus is a general-purpose humanoid robot designed to perform tasks that are unsafe, repetitive, or monotonous. Tesla has stated that the robot is intended to operate beyond industrial environments and could be deployed in domestic, logistics, and commercial settings.
When did Tesla first reveal the Optimus robot? Tesla first unveiled a prototype of the Optimus humanoid robot at its AI Day event in September 2022. Subsequent versions have shown significant improvements in mobility and task performance.
Has Optimus appeared in public demonstrations? Yes. In December 2025, a Tesla Optimus robot was demonstrated at the Mall of Berlin in Germany, where it distributed popcorn to attendees and performed live task demonstrations in a promotional setting.
Is Errol Musk’s US$8 trillion valuation claim an official Tesla forecast? No. The US$8 trillion figure is a personal estimate made by Errol Musk in an interview with RIA Novosti. It does not constitute an official projection from Tesla’s management or investor relations function and should not be read as financial guidance.
What Comes Next
Errol Musk’s US$8 trillion forecast for Tesla is, at its core, a statement of belief in what Optimus could become — not a verified financial model. What the claim does usefully signal is the scale of ambition embedded in Tesla’s current strategic direction, with automotive production now described by those close to the company as secondary to its humanoid robotics programme. With Elon Musk having committed publicly to commercial Optimus sales by end-2027, the next eighteen months will determine whether that ambition has an operational foundation beneath it.
For more information on the Tesla Optimus robot and related developments, readers may refer to:
- Official Tesla website: tesla.com
- Tesla Investor Relations: ir.tesla.com
- Tesla on X (formerly Twitter): @Tesla
- Elon Musk on X: @elonmusk
Original remarks by Errol Musk were reported by RIA Novosti. The Berlin Optimus demonstration image cited in source materials was captured by EPA on 20 December 2025.
