Elon Musk shifts direction.

Elon Musk plans to scale back his electric vehicle business to focus on producing the Optimus robot. Photo: Bloomberg .

Tesla's CEO is gradually phasing out its car lines to make room for a new robotics production line. This isn't a unique move, as at least three other major companies have taken similar steps this month, including Amazon, Nvidia, and Atoms, the new startup founded by Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick.

Elon Musk makes no secret of his ambitions. In the vision he proposes, billions of robots perform all necessary tasks, poverty is eradicated, and labor becomes an option.

"With the continuous development of artificial intelligence and robotics, we are heading towards a high-income future for everyone," Musk said during Tesla's earnings call in January.

The term used in the tech industry for this trend is "physical artificial intelligence," applying AI to the physical world rather than just software. An Nvidia press release this month used the phrase no fewer than 15 times.

"With the advent of physical artificial intelligence, every industrial company will become a robotics company," said Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia.

Tesla is actively recruiting from various fields, focusing on specific specialties such as hand motion simulation. Musk's SpaceX also recently acquired the startup xAI to develop software for robots.

Furthermore, the reasons why billionaires are pouring money and resources into this field are clear. AI has already significantly impacted office jobs such as programming, finance, and engineering. However, manual labor in sectors like transportation, construction, agriculture , and food services remains beyond the reach of software alone. Humanoid robots open up opportunities to automate the entire remaining area.

The Optimus robot is gradually becoming Elon Musk's new focus. Photo: Bloomberg .

"Physical artificial intelligence is the biggest potential market in human history. I think Tesla is positioning itself to be a resounding winner," said Shay Boloor, strategist at Futurum .

Jon McNeill, former Tesla chairman, commented that Musk is not bound by his old business legacy. "He decides what the two or three vital issues are in the business, and right now at Tesla, that's the robotics field. He's not loyal to the past," McNeill said.

However, not everyone is optimistic. Senator Bernie Sanders has called on Jeff Bezos to testify before Congress about his plan to raise $100 billion for AI-based manufacturing. "Who is investing trillions of dollars in AI and robotics research? It's the richest people on Earth. These people have absolutely no interest in how this transformation will benefit the people," Sanders said.

Bolor also didn't hide his concerns. For Tesla, the car business is shrinking while the robotics business isn't large enough to compensate. Meanwhile, deploying robots on a large scale would increase unemployment.