THE ESSENTIALS IN 30 SECONDS

  • Investor Modar Alaoui told the San Francisco Standard that Tesla said reservations would open with the Humanoids Summit (Dec. 1–2) or shortly after.
  • The robot is expected to cost $20,000 or more, according to the report; any deposit is unknown and Tesla has confirmed neither price nor date.
  • Musk posted "No" on X after the report, and on the October 21 earnings call put deliveries to outside companies around the end of 2027.

Tesla could start taking reservations for its Optimus humanoid robot in early December, according to a San Francisco Standard report published on October 30. The claim does not come from Tesla, and Elon Musk seemed to reject it within hours.

What was reported

The Standard's source is Modar Alaoui, a robotics investor at ALM Ventures who organizes the Humanoids Summit, held December 1–2 in San Mateo, California. He told the outlet that Tesla had indicated reservations would open with the event or in the days after it. Tesla is a key partner of the conference and plans to demonstrate its Optimus V3 there, he said.

According to the report, the robot is expected to cost $20,000 or more. It is unclear whether a deposit would be required, and shipments would probably not start for about a year. Most units would go to businesses, with a small allocation for consumers.

Tesla did not respond to the Standard's request for comment. After publication, Musk posted a one-word reply, "No," on X, which the outlet read as a denial of the December waitlist plan. As of now, neither the price nor the date has been confirmed by the company.

What Tesla has said officially

On its third-quarter earnings call on October 21, Musk said Tesla had begun what he called early production on a high-volume Optimus line at its Fremont factory. He expects reaching an annualized rate of 20,000 units per week to take at least a year, and warned the ramp would be uneven because the design is still changing. Deliveries to outside companies are expected around the end of 2027, once remaining hardware, software and reliability issues are solved, he said, with industrial users first and home sales later. The call did not cover pricing or reservations.

Context

Tesla first showed the Optimus concept at its 2021 AI Day. The company has a mixed record with pre-orders: the Standard notes that Roadster reservations have been open for about a decade without deliveries. Rivals are also courting buyers, the outlet adds: 1X opened reservations for a $20,000 home robot last year but has not delivered yet. Because Tesla shares few technical details about Optimus, its capabilities and value for buyers remain hard to judge.