Tesla Showcases New Video of Optimus Robot as Humanoid Robotics Race Heats Up; 5,000 Units to Be Trial-Produced in 2025

On May 21, Tesla released a new demonstration video of its humanoid robot Optimus, showcasing advanced and smoother motions than ever before. In the footage, the robot performs a range of everyday tasks such as throwing out trash, cooking, vacuuming, and ironing clothes — all driven by a single neural network trained directly from human video data.

Compared to earlier demos of walking and dancing, the latest video highlights a leap in fluidity and task diversity, moving the robot closer to real-world application readiness.

Musk Confirms: 5,000 Units in 2025, Scaling Up to 50,000 in 2026

Back in March 2025, CEO Elon Musk announced that Tesla aims to trial-produce 5,000 units of Optimus by the end of the year, with plans to scale annual production to 50,000 units in 2026. This marks a critical shift from prototype to production for humanoid robots.

Tech Giants Double Down on Humanoid Robotics as Commercialization Accelerates

Since early 2024, major tech players have been rapidly entering the humanoid robotics space:

• Zibianliang Robotics secured hundreds of millions of yuan in Series A funding, led by Meituan Strategic Investment.
• Tencent Cloud and UFACTORY launched a deeper strategic partnership.
• Huawei and UBTECH signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement.

On the policy front, humanoid and embodied AI was officially listed as a “future industry” in China’s national government work report. Cities like Beijing, Shenzhen, and Henan have introduced policies to support the sector, including dedicated funding, innovation parks, and university-enterprise R&D alliances.

Explosive Growth Expected: Global Market to Hit $32 Billion by 2030

According to the 2025 Humanoid Robot & Embodied Intelligence Industry Report:

• The global embodied AI market is projected to reach ¥19.5 billion (~$2.7B USD) by 2025;
• And to exceed ¥232.6 billion (~$32B USD) by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 64.18%.

Securities firm Hualong sees the industry entering a golden cycle of "tech breakthroughs → cost-reduction & mass production → application penetration" and maintains a "Buy" rating on the sector.

China’s A-Share Market: 128 Listed Companies Enter the Humanoid Race

According to Securities Times, 128 publicly listed companies in China’s A-share market are actively involved in humanoid robotics. Despite a 1.1% average pullback last week, some stocks like Joyson Electronics and Lanjian Intelligence posted gains of over 20%.

In Q1 earnings:

• 67 companies reported year-over-year net profit growth;
• 9 turned profitable, while 5 narrowed losses;
• Tianqi Co. led with a 1701.43% surge in net profit, citing successful deployment of humanoid robots in Zeekr and BYD factories for logistics tasks in partnership with UBTECH.

Institutional Interest and Foreign Capital Pouring In

Humanoid robotics continues to attract institutional attention:

• 38 stocks have been surveyed by over 100 institutions since January.
• Inovance, SUPCON, and Sanhua Intelligent Controls lead in the number of institutional visits (955, 534, and 487 respectively).
• Inovance Technology is developing key components such as motors, drivers, and actuators tailored for humanoid robots.
• Sanhua Intelligent received a ¥509 million investment from the Kuwait Investment Authority, and is focusing on biomechatronic actuators and planning overseas manufacturing.

As of Q1 2025, 30 humanoid robot stocks are held by QFIIs, with a combined market value of ¥2.75 billion. This suggests long-term confidence from global capital in the sector's growth.