by Abhirup Roy

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tesla (NASDAQ:) Chief Executive Elon Musk on Wednesday set new goals for artificial intelligence products including self-driving software and using humanoid robots in factories, although he admitted he has been optimistic before.

Musk said the electric vehicle maker is in early talks with a major automaker to license its full self-driving technology.

He said in an earnings briefing that the value of Tesla vehicles will probably be “the biggest change in history” once self-driving is approved by regulators. Musk has also said that Tesla robots in the pilot phase could become a mass product. He said they could help out on Tesla’s factory floor by next year, though only 10 have been built so far.

Rising interest rates and competition from new EV makers have forced Tesla to cut vehicle prices to gain market share, which has hit margins.

But Musk said Tesla would continue to push to increase sales volume at the expense of profit margins, betting on the long-term value from the FSD. “Autonomy would make all these figures look silly,” he said.

Tesla’s move to license its technology comes after years of failed promises to build software that would allow cars to drive themselves.

Tasha Keeney of Arc Invest said on Twitter the licensing announcement was not surprising, given the failings of the industry. “Autonomy is difficult, it requires vast amounts of data, and I believe many automakers will fail to achieve it on their own.”

According to the earnings presentation, Tesla has completed more than 300 million miles in the beta version of FSD, more than half of which was in the last quarter.

But Musk was more cautious than usual.

“People have made fun of me in a way and probably made fun of me to a great extent, my predictions about achieving full self-driving have been optimistic in the past,” he said.

He said, “I’m the guy who cried for FSD, but I think by the end of this year we’ll be better than humans.” “I’ve been wrong before, maybe I’ll be wrong this time too.”