Tesla CEO Elon Musk Cites Copycat Fear A Reason For Optimus Delay As Capex Is Set To Soar

• The Optimus version slated for production is “almost ready to demonstrate” minus some aesthetic elements, Musk said.
• Tesla initially looks to manufacture Optimus on a production line that replaces its current production line for the Model X and S at its Fremont factory.
• As the company now looks to diversify its offering beyond its core EV business and further into artificial intelligence and robotics, Tesla will see a significant rise in capital expenditure, in line with other major technology companies, Musk said.

Tesla Inc (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday pinned the delay in revealing the production version of the Optimus humanoid robot to copycat fears and guided towards higher capital expenditure for the year, in line with other tech giants.

Shares of the company rose 4% after hours but pared gains through the earnings call to trade 1% lower at the time of writing. 

Tesla said in January that the company would unveil the Optimus version meant for mass production, nicknamed Gen 3, in the first quarter. The company, however, is yet to hold the event.

Musk said in the company’s Q1 earnings call that the company expects to reveal the robot closer to production in the July-August timeframe. The version slated for production is “almost ready to demonstrate” minus some aesthetic elements, Musk said, while adding that he wants the version to be “polished” and working functionally.  

“We're also a little hesitant to show V3 off, because we find our competitors do a frame by frame analysis whenever we release something and copy everything they possibly can. So I think there's some value to, you know, not showing new technology until it's close to production,” Musk said.

Tesla initially looks to manufacture Optimus on a production line that replaces its current one for the Model X and S at its Fremont factory. The last vehicles will be rolled off the final production line in early May. Following the retirement of the vehicles, Tesla will dismantle the old production line and install a new one, which Musk expects to take “at least a few months.”

Musk also added that it is “literally impossible to predict” the production rate of the Optimus this year, owing to the new nature of the product and intricacies of the supply chain involved.

In addition to the Optimus, Tesla is also looking forward to launching its dedicated robotaxi two-seat product called Cybercab this year, in addition to its electric freight truck called the Tesla Semi.

Musk on Wednesday said that the company has already started production of Cybercab in Texas while Semi truck production will commence soon at Nevada.

The company, however, warned of a “very slow” production ramp. “So you should expect that initial production of cybercab and semi will be very slow, but then ramping up and going kind of exponential towards the end of the year, and certainly next year,” he said.  

Capex Outlook

As the company now looks to diversify its offering beyond its core EV business and further into artificial intelligence and robotics, Tesla will see a significant rise in capital expenditure, in line with other major technology companies, Musk said.  
The CEO, however, said that the raised capex of over $25 billion will be “well justified for a substantially increased future revenue stream.”

Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), and Meta (META) are collectively guiding for roughly $635 billion to $700 billion in capital spending in 2026, marking a jump of 60-80% year-on-year jump, almost entirely driven by the AI infrastructure boom.  

In 2025, Tesla recorded a capex of about $8.5 billion. In the three months through the end of March, Tesla recorded capital expenditure of about $2.5 billion, marking an increase of 67% year-over-year.

How Did Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around TSLA stock stayed within the ‘extremely bullish’ territory over the past 24 hours,  while retail chatter in the stock stayed at ‘high’ levels.

TSLA stock has gained 63% over the past 12 months.

Read More: TSLA Stock Rallies As Q1 Earnings Drive Past Wall Street Estimates On Higher Deliveries, Lower Costs

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