Tesla’s Elon Musk optimistic on progress of self-driving tech, humanoid robots

Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk on Wednesday set new targets for artificial intelligence products including self-driving software and using humanoid robots in factories, though he acknowledged he’s been optimistic before.

The electric vehicle maker is in early talks with a major automaker to license its full self-driving technology, Musk added.

The value of Tesla vehicles would rise in perhaps “the single biggest step change in history” once regulators approved self-driving, he said at an earnings briefing. Musk has also said that Tesla robots, in pilot phase, could become a huge product. He said they could help out on Tesla’s factory floors as soon as next year, although only about 10 have been built to date.