①According to sources, Tesla AI The head of Tesla's AI business told employees in an internal speech that 2026 would be "the most difficult year of their lives"; ② Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's VP of AI Software, spoke at the company last month about the company's efforts in developing Autopilot and humanoid robots. The above remarks were made at an all-hands meeting of the Optimus team.
According to sources, Tesla's head of artificial intelligence (AI) told employees in an internal speech that 2026 will be "the most difficult year of their lives."
Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Tesla Ashok Elluswamy, VP of AI Software, made the above remarks last month at an all-hands meeting of the company's Optimus team, which focuses on autonomous driving and humanoid robots .
Elluswamy stated that 2026 will be a critical testing period for Tesla and told employees that they should be prepared for unprecedented high-intensity work to achieve the company's ambitious goals.
One employee described the meeting as a "mobilization." The meeting reportedly lasted nearly two hours, with several leaders from the AI department giving speeches. Employees were informed of the aggressive timeline for the mass production of the Optimus robot and the autonomous driving capabilities of Robotaxi. Specific objectives of taxi services.
Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that, in the long run, the most important things for Tesla are self-driving cars and humanoid robots. "Optimus".
During last month's earnings call, Musk said that Tesla plans to launch Robotaxi services in 8 to 10 metropolitan areas by the end of 2025 and have more than 1,000 driverless taxis on the road by the end of the year.
Musk also stated that Tesla plans to begin production of the Optimus robot by the end of 2026.
Tesla's Autopilot team shares office space with the Optimus team and has become one of the company's most valued core departments. This team is relatively independent from other engineering departments, and its organizational chart is kept strictly confidential.
According to previous media reports, the self-driving team is known for its extremely long working hours, and has been meeting with Musk almost every week since its inception.
Following the departure of Optimus Vice President Milan Kovac, Elluswamy took over leadership of the Optimus team earlier this year. Since then, Tesla has shifted its research focus to camera-centric perception and learning solutions, similar to its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software training methodology.
The Tesla Optimus team also meets with Musk weekly. Musk said in October that he holds a regular meeting with the team every Friday, "sometimes until midnight."
(Article source: CLS)
