Elon Musk is throwing the distant dream of a 'sentient' Optimus robot at Tesla's shareholders

"As I've said before, I think Optimus will be more valuable than everything else combined," Musk told investors in an earnings call.

• Elon Musk doesn't think Tesla should be viewed as just another auto company. 
• Musk told investors on Tuesday that Tesla's Optimus robots are its most valuable asset.
• "We should be thought of as an AI or robotics company," Musk said.

Tesla's Optimus robots could become the company's most valuable asset, says the company's CEO Elon Musk.

"As I've said before, I think Optimus will be more valuable than everything else combined," Musk said in an earnings call on Tuesday.

"Because if you've got a sentient humanoid robot that is able to navigate reality and do tasks at request, there is no meaningful limit to the size of the economy," he added.

During the call, Musk told investors that the Optimus can perform "simple factory tasks in the lab" before offering a rough timeline on when he thinks the robots would be rolled out.

"We do think we will have Optimus in limited production in the natural factory itself, doing useful tasks before the end of this year," Musk said. "And then I think we may be able to sell it externally by the end of next year. These are just guesses."

Musk's bullish remarks about Tesla's work in robotics come as the EV giant struggles with declining sales. On Tuesday, the company announced its quarterly revenue dropped by 9% year-over-year. This fall is Tesla's biggest revenue drop since 2012.

Earlier this month, the company revealed that it had delivered 386,810 cars in the first quarter of 2024, a 20.1% drop from the previous quarter. The company's performance in Q1 was also its worst quarterly performance since 2022.

Tesla's present challenges appear to have jolted Musk into high gear as he attempts to sell the viability of the company's works-in-progress.

Besides teasing a new robotaxi concept for its vehicles, Tesla also slashed its vehicle prices across multiple markets over the weekend.

Prices of Tesla's Model 3, S, X, and Y have been reduced by 14,000 yuan, or about $1,930, in China, a country where the carmaker is facing steep competition from local rivals like BYD.

"We should be thought of as an AI or robotics company," Musk told investors on Tuesday. "If you value Tesla as just like an auto company, fundamentally, it's just the wrong framework, and if you ask the wrong question, then the right answer is impossible."

In the past, Musk has tried to salvage the company's fortunes by tweaking prices and touting emerging technologies.

However, Musk has repeatedly set and then missed his own targets for when Tesla will bring self-driving cars to the masses. In 2019, Musk said he was "very confident" that Tesla would have 1 million autonomous robotaxis on the road by 2020.

Representatives for Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.