Photo courtesy of Tesla
During a talk with Ron Baron, founder of asset management firm Baron Capital, Elon Musk said Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, will one day perform surgeries with better precision than a human.
“Imagine a world where everyone has access to the best surgeons, literally everyone," Musk said.
"Optimus will have the level of precision that is frankly superhuman and will be able to do medical procedures, very sophisticated medical procedures, any medical procedure, perhaps things that really humans can't even do because they're too difficult, and that will be available to anyone."
Musk stated that people often talk about eliminating poverty and providing great medical care but never actually have a solution.
"Money doesn't solve it, because there are only so many, there's a very limited number of great doctors and surgeons. They don't grow on trees. But now they will get built in factories,” Musk said.
Currently, there is no medical version of Optimus, and the robot is still in the early stages of development.
THE LARGER TREND
Musk stated during Tesla's Q3 2025 earnings call that he foresees the robot being "the biggest product of all time" and eventually making enormous strides in healthcare.
"It won't even seem like a robot. It will seem like a person in a robot suit. It will seem so real that you'll need to poke it, I think, to believe that it is actually a robot," Musk said.
"Optimus will be an incredible surgeon. Imagine if everyone had access to an incredible surgeon."
Musk said he anticipates the unveiling of Optimus V3 in the first quarter of next year.
Earlier this month, Musk won a shareholder vote that would give him Tesla stock worth $1 trillion dependent on him hitting certain performance targets over the next 10 years. The deal gives the world's richest man the ability to become the first trillionaire in history.
The HIMSS AI & Cybersecurity Virtual Forum is free to attend on Nov. 18. Learn more and register.
