CNBC's David Faber sits down at Tesla HQ with CEO Elon Musk for a wide ranging conversation on self-driving, semiconductors, AI, China, and more.

California

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has projected that demand for the company's humanoid Optimus robots will be extremely high, suggesting that tens of billions could be produced in the coming decades. Musk set a target of manufacturing one million robots by 2030, describing this as a reasonable goal to begin achieving widespread adoption.

Musk outlined the significant technical hurdles involved, including the need for robots to learn tasks by watching videos and through self-play, similar to human learning. He indicated that while some advances in artificial intelligence and computing are still required, these challenges are expected to be overcome in the next few years.

Tesla CEO Musk says demand for Optimus robots 'will be insatiable'

You know, you've said recently tens of billions of robots, but that's decades away. At least one decade away. It's got to be more than that. It's going to grow very fast. Why do you think that? I think humanoid robots will be the biggest product ever. The demand will be insatiable. You said that. Everyone's going to want one. It's like, basically, who wouldn't want their own personal C3PO R2D2? No. Everyone's going to want one. You've said that, and your goal, you've also said, is to produce a million robots, I think by 2030. That's what I had you on the record as saying. I think that's a reasonable target. And then start towards sustainable abundance, which you can get into. But I wonder, we've been talking about autonomous and how long it takes to train the automobile to be able to be the equivalent of or exceed human capabilities. What about these robots, to the extent that how much training are they going to need to actually be able to do various different types of tasks? Isn't that something that's going to take a long time? A lot of training. Yeah. It's going to take a lot of compute resources, and it'll take time. I think there are certain threshold breakthroughs that we think we can achieve, where if Optimus can watch videos, YouTube videos or how-to videos or whatever, and based on that video, just like a human can, learn how to do that thing, then you really have task extensibility that is dramatic, because then it can learn anything very quickly. So I think we'll get there in the next year. We're not there yet, though. We're not there yet. You're relying on a significant uptick in terms of learning and training and computing. Yeah, no, that's why I'm calling it a very significant threshold, would be the ability to learn from watching a video. Right. As opposed to watching a human, right? Or having a human sort of train it right now with a task? Right now, we're training Optimus to do primitive tasks where a human in what's called a mocap suit and sort of cameras on the head is moving in the way that the robot would move to, say, pick up an object or open a door or the basic tasks, throw a ball, dance. And we need to, I think that's needed to sort of bootstrap the intelligence so you can have the basic functions. Then where I think it gets very interesting and very much like humans is that you want the robot to self-play. So you say, how does a child learn? Well, a child has toys. A child plays with the toys, plays with the blocks, at some point figures out how to put the triangle in the triangle hole and the circle in the circle hole by doing it over and over again. It's the self-play. Once you have a lot of robots, you can do this self-play, which is that you just put the robot in a room with toys and literally have the robot play with toys. And it will learn. Yeah. And you have to have a reward function, say like, okay, the goal of the robot is to put that classic child's toy, you put the circle in the circle hole, the square in the square hole, triangle in triangle hole, and keep doing it until it works. And the reward function is succeeding. And there are no advances needed to accomplish that now? I mean, no advances in AI or just compute and things of that nature that can happen? There are some advances needed, but I don't think these are insurmountable. I think we can solve these things in the next few years.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is one step closer to the full release of the Justice Department's documents on Jeffrey Epstein after securing the final signature needed to force a House vote. Scott MacFarlane reports.

Washington

House to vote on Epstein files release after bipartisan group push

With the Amazon nearing a tipping point, Indigenous voices are demanding immediate action at COP30, with campaigners saying their protests are a stark reminder that time is running out to stop catastrophic climate change.

Belém

Indigenous voices demand action at COP30 amid Amazon crisis

The U.S. government's longest standoff left both parties facing heavy criticism, and neither is likely to claim victory. Millions of Americans felt the impact, from hundreds of thousands of unpaid federal workers to families left without food stamps.

Trump signs deal to end record 43-day U.S. shutdown

Venezuela is preparing a 'massive mobilization' of its military as the U.S.’s largest warship arrives in the Caribbean Sea after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a military buildup in the region.

Caracas

Venezuela readying military as U.S.’s largest warship arrives

After 43 days, Congress passes a bill to reopen the U.S. government—Trump to sign spending legislation into law.

Washington County

U.S. House votes to re-open government, Trump to sign bill

Linda Sun faces trial – Prosecutors allege she secretly advanced China’s interests while serving in New York government.

New York

Ex-aide to NY governor accused of being China agent

The House passed a funding bill to end the government shutdown on Wednesday night, sending the measure to President Trump's desk for final signature.

House passes bill to fund government and end U.S. shutdown

Canada’s Foreign Minister Anita Anand met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the G7 summit to discuss defense, trade, and global security cooperation amid growing geopolitical tensions.

Kananaskis

Canada meets with U.S. counterpart Rubio at G7 summit

Venezuela has announced a "massive mobilization" of its military forces, as the U.S. continues its military buildup in the Caribbean. The announcement comes in the wake of U.S. strikes that have targeted at least 20 vessels in the waters around Latin America, killing dozens of people.

Venezuela mobilizing military as U.S. builds up military presence

The House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a long-awaited bill to end the government shutdown. CBS News congressional reporter Taurean Small has more from Capitol Hill.

House of Representatives ready vote on ending government shutdown

Warning: Some details are disturbing. An Army OB-GYN in Texas is accused of years of sexual assault and abuse of women on multiple bases, according to a recent lawsuit.

Killeen

Army gynecologist accused of secretly taking videos during exams

U.S. House Democrats on Wednesday released emails from Jeffrey Epstein referencing President Donald Trump, who has denied any knowledge of the convicted sex offender's crimes. In a 2019 email, Epstein said Trump "knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop."

New emails from Epstein mentioning Trump released by House Democrats

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz was arraigned on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to allegations of taking bribes to rig pitches. CBS News' Shanelle Kaul reports.

Brooklyn

Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz arraigned, pleads not guilty

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed the BBC while urging it to correct errors after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened a $1 billion lawsuit over a misleading edit of his Jan. 6, 2021 speech. The controversy led to the resignations of the BBC director general and head of news.

London

UK PM Keir Starmer backs BBC amid Trump threat

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote Wednesday on a spending bill that passed in the Senate earlier this week and could bring the longest government shutdown to an end.

House to vote on funding bill that could reopen government

The USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier strike group has moved into the Latin America region, U.S. officials say, dramatically escalating a military buildup that has deepened tensions with Venezuela.

Largest U.S. aircraft carrier sailing to Latin America region

U.S. President Donald Trump sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog urging him to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. CBS News' Courtney Kealy has more.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Middle East Conflict

Trump urges Israel's president to pardon Benjamin Netanyahu

Three astronauts remain stuck in space after their return capsule was damaged by orbital debris—delaying their journey home.

Beijing

Three Chinese astronauts stranded in space after capsule damage

The former first lady of Gabon and her son were being tried in absentia on various corruption charges.

Libreville

Gabon ex-first lady sentenced to 20 years in jail for embezzlement

Online platforms will ping Australian teenagers through over a million accounts in coming days offering a choice: download data, freeze profiles or lose the lot when a world-first ban on kids using social media starts on December 10. TikTok, Snapchat, Meta, Instagram and Threads are poised to deactivate accounts registered by users under 16, according to insiders.

Council of the City of Sydney

Big Tech starts complying with Australia's teen social media ban

Protesters stormed the COP30 climate conference in Brazil, clashing with security and overshadowing discussions earlier in the day California Gov. Gavin Newsom slamming America’s current stance on climate change.

Protesters storm into COP30 climate conference in Brazil

ByHeart is recalling all batches of its baby formula products after at least 15 infants were sickened. Dr. Steven Abrams, professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas at Austin, joins CBS News to discuss how parents can keep their children safe.

ByHeart recalls baby formula amid growing botulism outbreak

Israel’s parliament has passed the first reading of a bill that would introduce the death penalty for “terrorism”.

Jerusalem

Israel parliament passes first reading of death penalty for ‘terrorism’ law

The super typhoon has left devastation in the Philippines just days after another typhoon killed 232 people.

Cebu City

Typhoon Fung-wong leaves Philippines with ten dead, millions displaced

A Turkish C-130 military cargo plane with at least 20 personnel on board crashed in Georgia after taking off from Azerbaijan. Authorities reported an unspecified number of casualties and said rescue workers were headed to the site.

Sighnaghi Municipality

Turkish military plane crashes in Georgia

A car bomb rocked Islamabad, Pakistan resulting in 12 deaths and 27 injuries, just one day after a car exploded in New Delhi, India. Authorities in both countries are investigating the incidents as possible terrorist attacks.

Islamabad

Bomb rocks Pakistan's capital one day after car explosion in India

Drone strikes were reported in several Ukrainian cities, as fighting rages on the frontline with Russian forces closing in on the key city of Pokrovsk.

Odesa

Ukraine Invasion

Russian drones hit energy sites in Ukraine's Odesa

Local television channels report that at least 20 people have been wounded in blast near the Lal Quila underground metro station.

New Delhi

Indian police invoke ‘terrorism’ law after Delhi blast kills nine

The Senate passed a bill on Monday night to end the government shutdown, bringing Congress one step closer to ending the impasse. CBS News political reporter Hunter Woodall has the latest.

Senate passes bill to end shutdown, sending it to house

The COP30 climate conference kicked off in Belém, Brazil, with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pushing back against climate deniers even though a discussion of reduced reliance on fossil fuels isn’t on the agenda.

Breakdown