From labs to living rooms: Will Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus come to India soon

American electric carmaker Tesla plans to bring its humanoid robot Optimus to India at an appropriate time, a senior company official said, according to PTI.

Speaking at the launch event, Isabel Fan, Tesla’s APAC chief, outlined the company’s broader push into robotics and artificial intelligence, positioning Optimus as a general-purpose humanoid system. She said the robot is designed to handle repetitive and potentially dangerous tasks, while also supporting use cases such as companionship and basic assistance.

“Humanoid robots will be a big part of our lives in the future,” Fan said at the event. “This is a good option for humans to have a better use of time and be more productive.”

Fan added that Tesla is preparing for volume production of Optimus later this year in the US, as part of a wider shift beyond vehicles. The company’s hiring activity in India also points to early groundwork—its careers page currently lists multiple openings across software, design and engineering roles for its AI and robotics team.

At the event, she described Tesla’s transition into what she called a “physical AI company”, built on the integration of hardware, software and real-world data. “We design and build our own chips and hardware, collect real-world data at scale, and train AI models that are deployed directly into vehicles and future robotic systems,” she said.

Tesla currently operates in around 50 countries, with over 80,000 vehicles on the road feeding data into its AI systems. This continuous data loop is central to training and improving both its autonomous driving stack and future robotics.

Fan framed robotics, autonomy and AI as part of a single ecosystem rather than standalone bets. “The combination of what we do, vehicles, energy, robotics and AI, will drive the next set of advancements,” she said.

Energy play and India outlook

On energy, Fan said the business is already significant globally, spanning solar generation, storage and consumption. “We are also a vertically integrated energy solution company, from solar, from energy storage to the usage plans, and EV is one of them,” she said at the event. She added that products such as home energy storage and commercial power solutions are becoming increasingly important, with the business seeing strong growth globally and expected to scale further in the coming years.

Pointing to India’s potential, Fan said, "India has strong potential due to its solar capacity. When the time is right, we will expand further," without specifying a timeline.