--- title: "Musk says no to a December Optimus waitlist after a Tesla conference partner said yes" description: "A robotics investor whose conference Tesla sponsors says Optimus reservations open in early December. Musk answered with one word on X, and Tesla's own waitlist record is ten years of money in with no product out." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Robotics & Defense" published: 2026-10-31T14:15:06.716Z modified: 2026-10-31T14:15:06.716Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/musk-says-no-to-a-december-optimus-waitlist-after-a-tesla-conference-partner-said-yes language: en keywords: "Tesla, Elon Musk, Optimus, Robotics, Product Delays" --- # Musk says no to a December Optimus waitlist after a Tesla conference partner said yes > A robotics investor whose conference Tesla sponsors says Optimus reservations open in early December. Musk answered with one word on X, and Tesla's own waitlist record is ten years of money in with no product out. ## A partner's date, a founder's one-word denial Modar Alaoui, a robotics investor at ALM Ventures who runs the Humanoids Summit, [told the San Francisco Standard that Tesla told him Optimus reservations open in early December](https://sfstandard.com/2026/10/30/tesla-optimus-robot-waitlist/), timed to his conference on December 1-2 in San Mateo, where [Tesla](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/tesla) is a key partner and plans to demo the Optimus V3, the robot's third generation [1]. [Musk](https://theinference.org/markets/people/elon-musk)'s X account answered "No" on Friday afternoon, the same day the report ran; no time was given for either the report or the post [1]. Tesla did not respond to the Standard's request for comment [1]. Alaoui is not a neutral listener: he [published a book on the humanoid economy through Wiley on October 12](https://www.morningstar.com/news/business-wire/20261013779317/the-humanoid-economy-by-modar-alaoui-published-today-by-wiley) [4]. That does not make him wrong, but the sourcing chain now runs from a Tesla conference partner with a robot-industry franchise to sell, against a one-word denial from the chief executive. ## The waitlist record is money in, product not out A waitlist collects cash and promises a robot. Tesla has taken more than $50,000 per reservation for its Roadster for a decade without shipping a car [1]. 1X, a Palo Alto robotics company, opened reservations for its $20,000 robot last year and has delivered none; Germany's Neura Robotics and the UK's Humanoid are in the same position [1]. The flying Roadster Tesla unveiled this month [drew a "sideshow" verdict from a Car and Driver contributing editor](https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2026/10/31/he-rode-in-a-roadster-in-06-what-does-he-think-of-the-flying-tesla/92466327007/) who has covered electric vehicles for 20 years [2]. How much an Optimus reservation would cost, if anything, is unknown [1]. What the record shows is that Tesla has collected reservation money for products it has not delivered. *Chart: **Tesla's Roadster list has held money for a decade with no deliveries** Bar chart comparing three waitlists: Tesla Roadster at 10 years, 1X NEO at 1 year, Tesla Optimus at 0 years, each measured in years open with no delivery* *Years each consumer waitlist has been open with no delivery, as of October 31, 2026. Roadster: about a decade per the San Francisco Standard. 1X: reservations opened in 2025, so about one year. Optimus: list not open, denied by Musk on October 30. Source: San Francisco Standard, October 30, 2026. [1]* ## The fleet is a data cost before it is a product Tesla's own production plan matters more than the list. [Production has started on a high-volume line at Fremont](https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-reveals-optimus-academy-where-robots-teach-themselves/), Tesla's California factory, in space that built the Model S and Model X until this spring, and Tesla says the robots coming off it are its first production-quality units [3]. ![A fleet of Tesla Optimus robots performing on a lit stage at Tesla's 10/10 Robotaxi event in October 2024](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/2c15fdddeec16b04.jpg) *Optimus robots on stage at Tesla's 10/10 Robotaxi event in Los Angeles in October 2024, a fleet demo in which the units moved through the crowd and performed on stage. (Steve Jurvetson, via Wikimedia Commons)* But Musk says the AI, the electromechanical design and run time still have issues, and the first 10,000 to 20,000 robots exist to gather the training data the models need, not to ship [1] [3]. [Output should reach 20,000 robots a week by roughly the end of 2027](https://theinference.org/article/tesla-must-build-1-000-robots-a-week-and-the-hands-keep-failing), with deliveries to outside companies around the end of next year [1] [3]. A December list adds no cash before 2028, and the first units are promised to companies, not the people lining up [1] [3]. ## December 1-2 decides whether the list or the denial holds The bull case deserves its say: a list at $20,000-plus would put consumers first in line for a consumer humanoid before any rival has shipped one to a U.S. customer, since Chinese makers deliver at home and American rivals' lists end in no deliveries either [1]. Watch December 1-2: a list opens at the Humanoids Summit and Alaoui's sourcing holds, or nothing opens and "No" holds [1]. Musk has also promised a new Optimus video, driven by AI rather than scripted motions, within one or two months [3]. Until a delivery schedule and a published price exist, buy Optimus on the schedule and the price, not on a list the chief executive has denied. ## Takeaway A Tesla summit partner says Optimus reservations open in early December; Musk answered "No". Tesla's waitlist record is a decade of Roadster deposits with no car, so buy the schedule and the price, not a denied list. ## Sources 1. [San Francisco Standard, Tesla is set to open reservations for Optimus robot later this year, says industry expert, 30 October 2026](https://sfstandard.com/2026/10/30/tesla-optimus-robot-waitlist/) 2. [Detroit Free Press, Tesla's flying Roadster is a 'sideshow,' says longtime EV journalist, 31 October 2026](https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2026/10/31/he-rode-in-a-roadster-in-06-what-does-he-think-of-the-flying-tesla/92466327007/) 3. [Teslarati, Tesla reveals Optimus Academy, where robots teach themselves, 23 October 2026](https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-reveals-optimus-academy-where-robots-teach-themselves/) 4. [Business Wire via Morningstar, The Humanoid Economy by Modar Alaoui Published Today by Wiley, 13 October 2026](https://www.morningstar.com/news/business-wire/20261013779317/the-humanoid-economy-by-modar-alaoui-published-today-by-wiley) --- Musk says no to a December Optimus waitlist after a Tesla conference partner said yes — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/musk-says-no-to-a-december-optimus-waitlist-after-a-tesla-conference-partner-said-yes