Are popcorn-serving robots on their way to becoming the norm? Tesla's Elon Musk thinks so

A video recently went viral, showing a Tesla Optimus humanoid robot wearing a popcorn server’s hat. It is seen holding a packet, scooping buttered popcorn, and presenting it to a customer, complete with a thumbs-up and wave.

Elon Musk reshared the robot clip on X, said: “This will become normal in a few years”

The demo took place at the soft opening of the Tesla Diner and Supercharger station on Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, where Optimus served popcorn to guests, including first responders.

Optimus has moved beyond dancing and basic gestures to performing structured human-like tasks, like serving popcorn. Although slightly slower than a human server, it achieves impressive accuracy. There are no spills, and the packet is handed over cleanly. But it is not clear if the robot was fully autonomous or teleoperated.

Elon is planing to deploy “thousands” of Optimus robots in Tesla factories by late 2025, aiming for one million units/year by 2029. Internal use and limited production began in 2025, with external availability targeted for 2026, keeping a price under $20,000–30,000.

These robots have demonstrated tasks like cooking, cleaning, vacuuming, and even walking and dancing.

Elon consistently frames Optimus as a potential mass-market humanoid assistant. It can potentially be used for massive transport operations as vital for future operations on Mars.

Coming just ahead of Tesla’s planned limited robotics rollout in factories, it suggests tangible progress toward real-world applications.

Serving first responders creates feel-good optics but doesn't resolve core questions: automation vs human jobs and actual independence of the robots.

Expect Tesla to expand demos of Optimus in varied service roles, likely food service, retail, and industrial settings, as part of the broader internal rollout in late 2025.

Watch for tests of real autonomy (versus teleoperation), public access trials, and pricing details as production scales in 2026.

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