Part 12/17:
Financial resources are fundamental to breakthrough development. Tesla’s cash reserves are staggering — around $41 billion — enabling aggressive investment in humanoid R&D. They spend roughly $1 billion annually on Optimus, with additional cash flows supporting rapid iteration and scaling.
In contrast, competitors like Figure One and Neo Gamma are raising hundreds of millions — $1 billion Series C for Figure One, and intentions to raise around the same for Neo Gamma — but their valuations are comparatively modest (~$39 billion at Figure One). Neo Gamma’s recent move from Norway to Silicon Valley indicates their ambitions to compete at a global scale.