Tesla is hiring a bunch of designers so it can start selling humanoid robots by 2027

• Elon Musk's desire to launch Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus, by 2027 may be closer to reality.
• Tesla's website shows more than 50 adverts for roles with Tesla Bot in the title.

Elon Musk has high aspirations for Tesla's humanoid robot, Optimus.

The Tesla CEO said at its annual AI Day last year that it could be ready to take orders in three to five years, per Reuters, and that it's "expected to cost much less than a car," and "probably less than $20,000."

It seems that the billionaire is hiring more people to work on the project and make his vision a reality. Tesla's careers page shows there are more than 50 jobs advertised that have "Tesla Bot," also known as Optimus, in the job title, as EV news site Electrek reported.

Some of the roles listed, which are to be based in Palo Alto, California, include "Humanoid Controls Engineer, Tesla Bot," "Systems Design & Integration Engineer, Tesla Bot," and various other Tesla Bot engineers.

Musk said in May that the "Optimus Team is making excellent progress" in an X post. Tesla then posted a progress update of Optimus in a YouTube video last month with accompanying text saying it's "now capable of self-calibrating its arms and legs."

The video shows the robot sorting building blocks by color using its hands, vision, and Tesla's on-board neural net. The clip ends with Optimus doing some yoga stretches.

But with some US-based competitors already testing humanoid robots in warehouses, Tesla may have some catching up to do.

Texas-based Apptronik launched its robot Apollo in August, which is more than feet high and can carry up to 55 pounds.

Jeff Cardenas, cofounder and CEO of Apptronik, told Insider that it had deployed one or two units of Apollo at each customer site. He added that the company, which signed a partnership with NASA last year, was focused on "improving the technology and then we'll move beyond that."

"We're not ready to make public announcements yet, but our customers are in retail, manufacturing, and pure-play third-party logistics groups," he said.

Similarly, Agility Robotics is building a factory in Oregon and its robot Digit is being tested in an Amazon research-and-development center near Seattle.

Tesla didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside of normal working hours.