- Rare earth metals form the powerful magnets crucial to producing fighter jets, smartphones, and the motors that power the arms of Tesla’s humanoid robot, called Optimus. CEO Elon Musk is optimistic the company will have thousands of Optimus units by the end of the year, but the company may be waiting on an export license from China, which controls over 90% of the market, for six months or more.
Elon Musk is confident Tesla will churn out 1 million of its humanoid Optimus robots by the end of the decade—or even 2029. For now, however, production will only move “as fast as the slowest and least lucky component in the entire thing,” he told investors Tuesday—and President Donald Trump’s tariff battle with China has created a significant roadblock.
