Gene Munster, managing partner of growth-investment firm Deepwater Asset Management, acknowledged the idea that Optimus was remotely controlled and said he had been “fooled” at the event. Still, he said in a post on Musk’s X platform, it gave a “window into the potential around these products.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk first floated the idea of launching a robotaxi network using autonomous Teslas in 2019, saying he expected to begin deployment the following year. But Musk isn’t exactly known for sticking to his timelines.