TMTPOST --   Tesla Inc.   CEO Elon Musk failed to impress investors on an earnings call   Wednesday as   the billionaire   scaled down targets   of two highly-anticipated   businesses.

Credit：Tesla

Musk   on the call   spent most of   the time   talking about promise   of artificial   intelligence ( AI ) ,   the Grok   AI   model-powered   Optimus   humanoid robot   and   fully self-driving   Robotaxi   service. "We're at a critical inflection point for Tesla and our strategy going forward as we bring AI into the real-world,"   Musk said   in the opening marks. He touted    the third-version   ( V3 )   Optimus, which   could be   unveiled in the first quarter next year.

"It won ’ t even seem like a robot," Musk   said of   the upcoming Optimus V3. "It will seem so real that you will need to poke it to believe that it ’ s actually a robot."   He even   called   the robot "an   incredible surgeon."   With Optimus and self driving, "you can actually create a world where there is no poverty, where everyone has access to the finest medical care,"   he said.

Musk   said Tesla hopes   the mass production   of Optimus start   by the end of 2026   as the   company   building a million-unit   production   line after it shows off   a   production   intent   prototype   of the third-generation robot   in the first quarter.   That represented   a more cautious production outlook. Tesla had   been aimed   at   making 5,000   Optimus robots   this year and   50,000 next year.   

Musk   disclosed the new production roadmap as he   highlighted difficulties in building the robot. He told analysts   it's especially   difficult to create a hand that is "as dexterous and capable as the human hand",   noting   "the human hand is an incredible thing that the more you study the human hand, the more incredible you realize the human hand is and why you need five -- four fingers and the thumb, why the fingers have certain degrees of freedom."

A   report two   weeks ago   said Tesla had to dial   back its   production plans for Optimus   this year   due   to challenges with its hand design. Targets Musk set for Tesla to make thousands of the Optimus robots this year were abandoned by the summer, The Information cited   people with   knowledge   of the project on October   7.

It was   reported Tesla workers repeated told Musk his timeline and goal of making at   least 5,000   robots this year, which   was first made   public in March, were overambitious,   and a few months later   the company slashed its production   goal to 2,000   units.   During the summer,   staffers told Musk Tesla could meet the 2,000 target, but the robots wouldn ’ t be very useful due to technical   issues with their hands, and Tesla therefore   dropped plans   to build   thousands of bots this year,   instead, decided to further improve bands of the robot   and other design changes,   per the report.

Tesla in June kicked off   its Robotaxi service   in   Austin, Texas.   In its shareholder deck   released on Wednesday, Tesla   disclosed in the   third   quarter   it expanded   both service area   and fleet count for Robotaxi   service in Austin,   and launched Bay Area ride-hailing service.   That means   the Robotaxi vehicles so   far   are   only available in Austin and   San   Francisco.

Musk   on   the   earnings   call   said   Tesla would have its Robotaxi service operating without human drivers in Austin by the end of this   year.   He also said Tesla expected to   be operating Robotaxi in   about eight to ten   metro areas by the end of the year, depending on   various regulatory approvals.  

The   remarks   appeared Musk   scaled back his ambition revealed on   last   earnings   call.   During that   conference in July,   he said Tesla   was aiming to make   half the U.S. population have access to   Robotaxi   by   the end of 2025.