By Al Root
And now for the latest robot news: They just keep getting better, which raises the bar for Tesla Optimus when CEO Elon Musk unveils the third generation of his humanoid robot.
The advent of artificial intelligence and modern manufacturing has humanity on the cusp of a labor revolution. Robots can literally walk off the assembly line at the end of a shift after doing jobs that humans once did. And they'll take more jobs.
Musk believes AI-trained robots will be the biggest industry in human history. His conviction is so strong that he's betting Tesla on it. The auto maker has even stopped making its Model S and X electric vehicles to churn out robots at its plant in Fremont, California.
Tesla has promised to show off its newest robot later this year. Delays, which Musk says are meant to prevent competitors from stealing ideas, are one reason the stock has been stuck. Shares are down about 8% far this year. In midday trading, they were off 3%, at $409.52.
Despite Musk's delay tactics, competitors aren't standing still. On Monday, Boston Dynamics, which is majority owned by Hyundai Motor, showed its Atlas humanoid robot lifting a 50-pound mini-fridge.
Last week, China's Unitree, which is planning an IPO sometime this year, showed off its "manned transformable mecha" suit that costs $650,000. It's something out of the movies.
Tesla and Musk, of course, know all this. Musk responded to Unitree with "cool."
"I would say in the next two, three-ish years, I think that's going to start taking off," Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Källenius told Barron's. "There is the full-scale human or robot with legs. It can be on wheels. It can be half a human or robot, mounted on something, doing something. Robotization of the manufacturing process is happening."
Mercedes sees robots starting with highly repetitive logistics-type functions. It has a small stake in Apptronik, robot maker based in Austin, Texas.
"I'm sure there will be maintenance involved," Källenius. "But once the variable cost of these things [comes] down, I mean, you do math, right? The business case is so good, it's not even funny."
The robot revolution is real. Exactly how it will play out is hard to know. There's the possibility of widespread labor disruption. Robots could also reduce the price of goods and make everyone better off.
We hope we all come out ahead.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2026 11:54 ET (15:54 GMT)
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