Autonomous vehicles have a clearer near-term investing edge than humanoid robots, according to tech venture capitalist Bill Gurley. Speaking on Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid Unfiltered, Gurley said that self-driving cars are further along because the problems they solve are more predictable and defined. In contrast, humanoid robots are still in an early phase, where the industry has not yet agreed on what they should be best used for or how they should work at scale.
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Gurley also explained that most humanoid robot projects today are highly customized for specific warehouses or environments, making it hard to create a single standard product that works well everywhere. As a result, scaling humanoid robots into a large, profitable business is much more difficult right now. It’s worth noting that Gurley’s views carry weight given his long career, which includes early investments in Uber (UBER), Twitter (now X), and Nextdoor (NXDR).
Still, Gurley emphasized that both autonomous cars and humanoid robots are challenging businesses because they require heavy hardware investment and large amounts of capital. Nevertheless, this hasn’t stopped Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk from pursuing both opportunities at the same time, although Musk has also admitted that early production will be slow. In addition, a recent Gartner report found that by 2028, fewer than 20 companies are expected to move humanoid robots into full production. This shows just how early the technology is.
What Is the Prediction for TSLA Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on TSLA stock based on 10 Buys, eight Holds, and seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average TSLA price target of $398.38 per share implies 8.5% downside risk.
