Tech investor and podcaster Jason Calacanis is making some bold claims after Elon Musk gave him an early look at Tesla’s next-generation humanoid robot. According to Calacanis, Optimus V3 could be so transformative that it completely eclipses Tesla’s identity as a car company.
In a recent episode of the All-In Podcast, Calacanis revealed that he visited Tesla with Musk and saw the latest version of the Optimus robot firsthand. His reaction was unequivocal.
“I saw Optimus 3. I can tell you now, nobody will remember that Tesla ever made a car. They will only remember Optimus and that he is going to make a billion of those. It’s going to be the most transformative technology product ever made in the history of humanity.”
The comments add to growing hype around Optimus V3, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly described as one of the most important products the company has ever worked on. During Tesla’s Q3 earnings call last fall, Musk said the Optimus V3 humanoid robot will be unveiled publicly in February or March 2026, calling it “so real that you’ll need to poke it to believe it’s an actual robot.”
Behind the scenes, Tesla is already laying the groundwork for scale. Pilot production of Optimus V3 units is underway at the Fremont Factory, where Tesla aims to ramp toward a one-million-unit annual production line by late 2026. At the same time, the company has broken ground on a massive Optimus manufacturing facility at Gigafactory Texas, which is expected to come online in 2027 with a projected capacity of up to 10 million robots per year.
Tesla has also been showing tangible progress. Last month, the company shared footage of an Optimus prototype jogging smoothly across a lab floor, highlighting major gains in balance, locomotion, and real-world mobility. Hiring for the Optimus program has ramped up significantly as Tesla prepares for a production-intent prototype and an eventual commercial rollout.
While Calacanis’ prediction that people will forget Tesla ever made a car may sound extreme, it underscores a growing belief among investors — and Elon Musk — that Optimus could become Tesla’s defining product. If Tesla succeeds in scaling humanoid robots the way it scaled EVs, Optimus may indeed redefine not just the company but entire industries.
