The manufacturing network supporting Elon Musk’s humanoid robot Optimus is examined through the Chinese companies that control its joint components and finger motors, and Musk’s 10-year relationship with the Chinese government.
In the third installment of its Nikkei Business Online series, the article traces the supply chain for Musk’s humanoid robot Optimus using data from the National Institute of Informatics. It points to the fact that Chinese companies supply the drive components for its joints and the motors for its fingers.
The article examines how the “invisible hand” of manufacturing operates by linking the history of Musk’s relationship with the Chinese government since the 2010s with the current reality that Tesla, the US electric vehicle maker, depends on China for approximately half of its global EV production.