Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, showcased the famous human-like robot “Optimus” during the AI Day event organized by the electric vehicle manufacturer on Friday. The billionaire stated that the potential in robotics would surpass that of their cars, hoping to expand beyond self-driving vehicles, which have yet to become a reality despite his repeated promises. A prototype of the robot walked on stage and waved to the audience. A video was shown of the robot carrying a box, watering plants, and moving beams in the car manufacturing plant.
During the event held at a Tesla office in Palo Alto, California, Musk said, “Our goal is to create a useful human-like robot as quickly as possible. There's still a lot of work to be done to improve Optimus and prove that.” He mentioned that current human-like robots “lack a brain” and added that they do not possess the intelligence to navigate the world on their own. Furthermore, they are expensive and produced in low quantities.
In contrast, Musk stated that Optimus will be “a very capable robot” and will be manufactured in very high volumes, possibly millions of units eventually, and is expected to cost significantly less than a car, at under twenty thousand dollars. He also mentioned that robots could be used in the future in homes for cooking, mowing lawns, caring for the elderly, and even becoming “companions” to humans.
