Elon Musk says China wants assurances that magnets for Tesla's humanoid robot won't be used for 'military purposes'

Tesla‘s Optimus production is getting squeezed by President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Production of the humanoid robotic might deal with some hold-ups as Tesla handle obstacles, such as persuading China that a few of the robotic’s parts will not be utilized for military functions.

Elon Musk stated throughout Tesla’s first-quarter revenues get in touch with Tuesday that Optimus production “was impacted” by a supply chain problem in China. He stated Tesla utilized rare-earth magnets sourced from China for the actuators in the robotic’s arms.

The problem is that China just recently began to need an export license for some rare-earth aspects. Tesla likewise stated in the revenues call that it had actually looked for “alternative sourcing” for rare-earth magnets for many years.

” Tesla as a whole does not require to utilize long-term magnets, however when something is volume constrained, like an arm of the robotic, then you wish to attempt to make the motors as little as possible,” Musk stated.

The CEO stated the magnets were “simply entering into a humanoid robotic,” which isn’t a weapon system. However the magnets can be utilized for a series of functions, consisting of structure military weapons such as rockets. Due to the fact that of that, Musk stated China was seeming persuaded that any magnets they provided to Tesla would not discover their method into a weaponized system or robotic.

” China desires some guarantees that these are not utilized for military functions, which, certainly, they’re not,” Musk stated.

Beijing just recently stopped briefly specific rare-earth component exports in reaction to Trump tariffs, which the President revealed would ” boil down significantly” on Tuesday. In addition to impacting Tesla’s Optimus production, the limitation might impact numerous markets based on rare-earth aspects, consisting of car manufacturers and semiconductor producers.

Musk stated Tesla was “overcoming” the supply chain problem with China and would “ideally” get a license to utilize the magnets. He stated he was positive the business would have the ability to fix the problem and produce countless robotics by the end of the year. He likewise stated that Tesla anticipated to scale Optimus “faster than any item” which he felt great the car manufacturer would produce a “million systems annually” in under 5 years.

That’s primarily in line with previous forecasts. Musk stated throughout an all-hands staff member conference last month that Tesla would ideally produce about 5,000 Optimus robotics in 2025 which it intended to have adequate parts to make 10,000 or 12,000 of the robotics.

Musk included throughout Tuesday’s call that “Optimus production will move as quick as the slowest and least fortunate element” associated with the item. Due to the fact that it’s a brand-new item, Tesla is handling “like 10,000 distinct things” as it constructs the humanoid robotics, he stated.

” Anybody who informs you they can forecast with accuracy the production ramp of a really brand-new item does not understand what they’re discussing,” Musk stated.