Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed a prototype of a humanoid “Optimus” robot that shares some AI software and sensors with its cars’ Autopilot driver assistance features. As The Verge reports, at the start of Tesla’s 2022 AI Day presentation, Musk acknowledged that they had “a guy in a suit” last year but promised something much more impressive this time around.
According to Musk, this prototype can do more than what was shown live, but “the first time it operated without a tether was tonight on stage.” Musk predicted it could hit a price of “probably less than $20,000” and later, in a Q&A session, explained that Tesla is very good at building the AI and the actuators necessary for robotics based on the experience of producing drive units for electric cars. Musk said that would help it get capable robots into production and start off by testing them within its factories.
He claimed that the difference between Tesla’s design and other “very impressive humanoid robot demonstrations” is that Tesla’s Optimus is made for mass production in the “millions” of units and to be very capable. “It’ll be a fundamental transformation for civilization as we know it,” said Musk. He continues to say that Optimus has the potential of “two orders of magnitude” of potential improvement of economic output.
Musk first announced the “Tesla Bot” at last year’s AI Day, promising it would be “friendly” and potentially revolutionize the company’s assembly line and manufacturing business. But Musk had also warned his fans not to expect the prototype to look like the glossy black-and-white rendering first shown at last year’s event.
There’s been no shortage of hype, with Musk calling the robot “the most important product development we’re doing this year” and predicting that it will have the potential to be “more significant than the vehicle business over time.” Musk has boasted that future applications could include cooking, gardening, or even “catgirl” sex partners, also claiming that production could start as soon as next year.
In the days leading up to AI Day, robotics experts warned against buying too much into Musk’s claims. They’ve noted that other companies are much further along in developing robots that can walk, run, and even jump — but none are claiming to be close to replacing human labor.
As The Verge points out, Tesla’s history is littered with fanciful ideas that never panned out — like a solar-powered Supercharger network, battery swapping, or robotic snake-style chargers — so it’s anyone’s guess as to whether a production-ready Tesla Bot will ever see the light of day. But the company is where it is today because of Musk’s sheer will. And the reveal of a prototype version of the robot is sure to bolster Musk’s claims of Tesla as “the world’s biggest robotics company.”
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