As a result, humanoid robots are at last beginning to leave the lab and enter the workplace. On April 22nd Elon Musk reasserted during an earnings call that he expects “thousands” of Tesla’s Optimus robots to be working in its electric-car factories by the end of the year.

Investors interested in what Elon Musk says is ahead for Tesla (TSLA), rather than the company’s latest numbers, got some fresh information from the electric vehicle maker’s CEO yesterday. On Tesla’s conference call Tuesday,

China’s halt this month on exports of magnets containing heavy rare earth metals has affected Tesla’s plans to manufacture Optimus robots.