A 'Chance' for Samsung and Hyundai Motor: "Unable to Scale Up" - Musk's Admission Sends Share Price Plunging 15%

Retreat from Projections of 10 Billion Humanoids by 2040
Direct Mention of Samsung Electronics on Supply Chain Concerns
Korea’s Manufacturing and Supply Chain Strengths Create Opportunity to Catch Up

Robot model exhibited at the Tesla store in New Jersey, USA. Photo by Paek Jongmin, Tech Specialist

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, has detailed the specific challenges involved in mass-producing the humanoid robot 'Optimus.' Musk’s public admission that an American big tech leader is facing such obstacles indicates that the robotics race is shifting from flashy demos to critical stages such as supply chain management, mass production, real-world applications, and monetization. For Korean companies with strong manufacturing capabilities, this could present an opportunity to catch up.

During the second quarter earnings conference call on July 22 (local time), CEO Musk praised Optimus as “the biggest product ever,” but also acknowledged, “It is the most difficult product in terms of ramping up mass production among all products Tesla has ever made.”

Tesla has halted production of the Model S and Model X vehicles and is installing the first-generation Optimus production line in the vacated space of its Fremont plant. Musk explained that since most of the robot components had to be developed from scratch, the initial ramp-up would be “quite gradual and long.” This stands in contrast to CEO Musk’s previous projection that there would be 10 billion robots operating by 2040. U.S. media outlets reported that CEO Musk’s remarks served as an indirect warning that mass production of Optimus could be delayed.

Musk also noted that, unlike electric vehicles, which have established supply chains for wheels, glass, and other components, the same infrastructure does not exist for robots. Most of the parts must be newly designed, and Tesla must build the entire supply chain themselves or bring production in-house.

CEO Musk also raised the issue of the semiconductor supply chain. He emphasized that challenges with AI chips, memory, logic, and packaging bottlenecks all need to be resolved. Musk specifically mentioned Samsung Electronics and TSMC by name, explaining that semiconductor investments in the United States support the computing needs for Optimus and the AI used in robot taxis. Samsung Electronics is reportedly responsible for manufacturing Tesla's AI chips.

Musk pointed out that many of the impressive robot demonstrations circulating on the internet rely heavily on pre-programming or remote control. He expressed the unique difficulty of developing an autonomous humanoid capable of performing tasks simply through verbal instructions or watching a video, without additional programming.

The ‘Atlas’ demonstration by Boston Dynamics, a Hyundai Motor Group subsidiary, at CES 2026—the world’s largest electronics and IT exhibition—last January, also took the form of teleoperation, directly replicating human movement. Related reports have indicated that human workers at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Germany are currently training Optimus robots with vehicle assembly data and working on related component manufacturing as well.

Musk’s comments leave room for Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor Group to catch up. These companies’ expertise in parts standardization and modularization, supplier quality management, cost reduction, and large-scale plant operation, accumulated in the automotive industry, can be leveraged for humanoid robot mass production. If the mass manufacturing capability of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductors and electronics is combined with Hyundai Motor Group’s experience in large-scale automobile production, there is a possibility that they could overcome the supply chain and production bottlenecks Musk identified before Tesla does.

Meanwhile, just one day after the earnings announcement, on July 23, Tesla’s stock price plummeted by as much as 15% on the Nasdaq. U.S. IT media outlet Gizmodo evaluated that Musk’s negative comments regarding Optimus mass production contributed to the stock’s sharp decline.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.