October 27, in response to a netizen's comment about the total memory demand of robots, Tesla founder Elon Musk stated that the demand for memory by robots will be much larger than other things on Earth. He emphasized that when artificial intelligence moves from processing information to physical reality, the carrier robots will consume memory that will crush all existing computing devices on Earth. He also stated that robots use low-power DRAM chips, not high-bandwidth memory HBM, and as artificial intelligence extends beyond data centers, chip manufacturers may face a larger market opportunity.
Research institution Counterpoint recently released a report predicting that humanoid robots will demand 20 times more DRAM by 2030 than today, from approximately 8,300TB to 172,000TB. The amount of memory per robot will also double from 19GB to 39GB (1TB=1000GB).
Later, a netizen forwarded the research and summarized that assuming an annual production of 550,000 robots, the total DRAM demand would be 21.5PB, even if the production increases 20 times, the total demand would only be 430PB, while the 2026 DRAM production is approximately 48EB (1EB=1000PB, 1PB=1000TB). On October 27, Musk responded to this statement and called it absurd, emphasizing that the demand for memory by robots will be much larger than other things on Earth.
Musk has recently expressed strong optimism about the development of the entire robot industry. Tesla's third-quarter financial report revealed that the Tesla Optimus humanoid robot has begun mass production, with a minimum guaranteed shipment of 10,000 to 20,000 units in 2026. According to the report, the Optimus robot has started production in Fremont, California, and the production line has moved from the construction stage to the initial ramp-up stage. The other Optimus production line in Texas is still under construction.
Previously, Tesla planned to have the Fremont production line capable of producing 1 million robots per year. Tesla stated that the robots currently being produced at the Fremont line are the first batch of Optimus robots that meet production-level quality requirements. Although the hardware design and manufacturing process still need to be iterated, the existing manufacturing process has been proven to be suitable for commercial product production.
Musk stated during Tesla's third-quarter earnings call that he believes the entire robot industry will become the largest industry in the world, and that the number of robots on Earth may even exceed the number of humans. He also predicted that by the end of 2026, issues such as robot AI, electromechanical design, reliability, and lifespan will be resolved.
At Beijing time on October 27 evening, the US stock concept of storage continued to rise. As of the time of writing, Western Digital rose over 7%, Seagate Technology rose nearly 6%, SanDisk rose over 3%, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology rose over 1%.