Elon Musk has never been shy about bold tech predictions, but his latest forecast might just be his most unnerving yet — and it’s got people wondering if the robot uprising is closer than we think.
The billionaire tech mogul and founder of Tesla spoke at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh in October 2024 to share some eyebrow-raising thoughts on the future of AI and humanoid robots. According to Musk, not only are intelligent robots coming — they’re about to outnumber us.
Answering a question asked of him at around 13:15 in the video above, Musk answered: “I think, by 2040, there’ll probably be more robots than there are people”.
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The tech billionaire added: “there’ll be at least 10 billion humanoid robots”, at a price point of $20,000 - $25,000 for a robot that can do anything.
10 billion robots is quite the bold claim. After all, that’s more than the entire human population, and it’s raising serious concerns about what that means for society, the workforce, and even human relevance.
Tesla, which unveiled its first Optimus prototype in 2021, is now aiming to build 10,000 units by the end of 2025. As time has gone on, new footage has shed light on how far robotics in general has come over the years.
For example, influencer Mario Nawfal, shared on X the below image of Medtronic’s Hugo robot, which has been able to perform complex surgeries at incredible success rates. Quoting the post, Musk added: “Robots will surpass good human surgeons within a few years and the best human surgeons within 5 years”.
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As for Optimus, it has been described by Tesla as a “general-purpose robotic assistant designed to perform tasks that are repetitive, dangerous, or undesirable for humans.” It’s powered by advanced AI and capable of walking, climbing stairs, and manipulating objects on its own.
During his keynote speech at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event, also in October 2024, Musk explained from around the 19:30 mark: “Everything we've developed for our cars — the batteries, power electronics, advanced motors, gearboxes, the software, AI inference computer — it all actually applies to a humanoid robot.”
“It’s the same techniques — it’s just a robot with arms and legs instead of a robot with wheels”.
The long-term vision that Elon sees is essentially personal robots in households around the world, with that aforementioned starting price tag of over $20,000 — what the CEO believes to be accessible for everyday consumers.
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But while some are excited by the idea of having a robotic helper at home, it can’t be helped if others are sounding the alarm about AI, automation, and the sheer scale of what Musk is proposing.
If Musk’s vision comes true, we won’t just be living with robots — we’ll be outnumbered by them.