Tesla manufactures vehicles, yet its primary rivals today appear less like traditional automakers such as General Motors or Ford, and more like major tech giants aiming to commercialize AI technologies — mighty Apple notably among them.
The iPhone maker is considering launching a small AI-trained robot in 2026 or 2027, wrote Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas on Wednesday, citing a Bloomberg report. “A $3.6 trillion company with Apple’s resources and pedigree can have a deterministic impact on the world of robotics,” he added.
AI optimism has driven much of the rally. Tesla uses AI computing to teach its cars to drive and humanoid robots to complete useful tasks. Tesla launched a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June. It wants to start selling significant quantities of robots as soon as 2026.
(One incentive in Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s new trillion-dollar pay package, to be voted on by shareholders in November, is to deliver one million humanoid robots.)
“Elon Musk may have been early on identifying the opportunity of physical AI… However, the secret is out,” wrote Jonas, adding the Magnificent Seven tech firms are working on robots enabled by AI. “A firm like Apple getting into the ring on robots would mean another giant in need of world-class AI and manufacturing talent.” That’s more competition for talent among Apple, Nvidia, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Amazon.com, and, of course, Tesla.
MacDailyNews Take: As American AI and robotics scientist Cynthia Breazeal said so well, “If you look at the field of robotics today, you can say robots have been in the deepest oceans, they’ve been to Mars, you know? They’ve been all these places, but they’re just now starting to come into your living room. Your living room is the final frontier for robots.”
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An Apple home robot will sell in lower numbers than Vision Pro. Almost zero use cases for a home robot. And, their track record in the home (HomeKit) is awful.
I’m some ways. Tesla is bigger threat to Apple than Apple is to Tesla.
Apple cannot make cars. They tried. Wasted a sh!tload of money. And jumped off with complete embarrassment. They also are not particularly good at their own products these days. Especially SW.
But Tesla could, COULD being the main word, make Apple type products. Not that they will. And they could be revolutionary, once again COULD. not saying they will.
Another total bullshit article, like the nonsense about that piece of crap of watch Jobs used and eveyone peeing in their panties about it being a paragon of design. APPLE IS NO THREAT – WHATSOEVER – TO AUTO MAKERS TESLA, FORD OR GM, for Christ’s sake.
Hey, idiot journalist, Apple not only doesn’t do cars, it have proven a failure at even experimenting with them.
GM and Ford are not a threat because Ford and GM are dying companies. They are not a threat to anybody.
It has little to do with Apple or Tesla.
The biggest threat to Tesla is that they make overpriced, poor build quality, stale cars that are EVs in a post first gen EV world.
You clearly haven’t owned or driven a Tesla.