Musk says Optimus will be the hardest product Tesla has ever scaled
THE SO WHAT
Calling Optimus Tesla’s hardest scaling challenge is a reminder that humanoids are a supply-chain and manufacturing problem as much as a software one—“every component is new” means long debug cycles. If you're planning around general-purpose humanoids, treat 2026–2028 as pilot years and avoid hard-dependence in core workflows.
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Black Forest Labs moving from generative models into robotics with Flux 3 and Flux-mimic is another data point in the “foundation model → physical AI” migration. For robotics teams, the model layer is commoditizing upward—start planning for a world where your differentiation is data, embodiment, and integration, not base models.