Elon Musk, Tesla Set To Reveal ‘Optimus’ Robot Prototype

Tesla and Elon Musk may unveil a prototype of its humanoid robot (known as Tesla Bot or Optimus) to the world later this month.

It should be remembered that back in August 2021, CEO Elon Musk had used Tesla’s ‘AI Day’ event to tout a humanoid robot it intended to build.

Tesla’s AI Day event is essentially a series of tech talks hosted by the EV maker to recruit machine learning talent and excite investors about future technologies.

Dancing condom?

The event in 2021 was recorded in this YouTube video, and Musk can be seen explaining how Tesla would build a humanoid robot called the Tesla Bot (skip to the 2 hour and five minute mark).

The Tesla Bot will be designed to eliminate “dangerous, repetitive and boring tasks”, but Musk warned that that the robot “probably won’t work,” at least not to begin with.

In the video, Musk engaged in his typical showmanship when the Tesla Bot figure was shown off, which turned out to be a human actor in a Telsa Bot body-stocking who took to the stage and proceeded to dance and gyrate around in a ‘robotic’ manner.

Critics at the time mocked the dancing “robot” wearing a body condom.

Musk confirmed the obvious fact that the Tesla Bot actor was not a real robot, but he insisted “the Tesla Bot will be real.”

Tesla bot

Fast forward one year, and Reuters noted that Tesla has posted multiple job openings, as as the EV maker sought to hire the skills needed for its ambitious plan to deploy thousands of humanoid robots, known as Tesla Bot or Optimus, within its factories.

Indeed, Tesla has reportedly posted about 20 job postings for “Tesla Bot”, including jobs for designing key robot parts like “actuators.”

“The code you will write will at term run in millions of humanoid robots across the world, and will therefore be held to high quality standards,” one of the job postings reportedly said.

According to Reuters, citing a person familiar with the matter, a buzz is building within the company as Tesla is having more internal meetings on robots.

Musk has previously said that robots could be used in homes, making dinner, mowing the lawn and caring for the elderly people, and even becoming a “buddy” or a “catgirl” sex partner.

The “friendly” Telsa Bot will measure 5.8” in height, and will weigh nearly 57kgs, with a carrying capacity of 20kgs.

It will have a screen instead of a face, and is designed so humans can run away from it (it can only run at 5 miles per hour) or people can overpower it.

If a humanoid robot works and can perform repetitive tasks that only humans can do today, Musk previously said, it has the chance to transform the world economy by driving labour costs down.

The robot business eventually may be worth more than Tesla’s car revenue, Musk has reportedly touted.

Musk hot air?

And now according to Reuters, Musk said that at its “AI Day” (slated for 30 September), Tesla will unveil a prototype from its project Optimus.

Optimus of course is the name of the powerful leader of the Autobots in the Transformers movies series.

Production of Optimus could start next year, Musk reportedly said.

But Musk has often touted a lot of things with completely unrealistic timeframes.

For example, for years Musk has aggressively hyped Tesla’s driver assistance system (Autopilot) and self-driving technology.

Indeed, in late 2016, Musk promised Tesla fans a self-driving car that was capable of driving from Los Angeles to New York without “the need for a single touch” by the end of 2017.

Then at an “Autonomy” event in 2019, Musk raised billions of dollars for Tesla by promising investors the company would have 1 million “robotaxi ready” cars on the road by the end of 2020.

The firm has yet to deliver such a car.

And in July 2020, Musk said that Tesla was “very close” to achieving level 5 autonomous driving technology.

Tesla cars currently operate at a level-two, which requires the driver to remain alert and ready to act, with hands on the wheel. It seems to be a long way off from level 5.

And Musk has previously been clear about his concerns about AI, after previously tweeting that artificial intelligence could evolve to be “potentially more dangerous than nukes”. He even described AI as an “existential threat”.

In 2015 Musk set aside a $10 million cash pot to protect humanity from eventual extinction at the mechanical hands of robotic overlords.

The donation was to the Future of Life Institute (FLI), a non-profit advisory board dedicated to weighing up the potential of AI technology to benefit humanity.

Dangerous tasks

But it should be remembered that Tesla (like other car makers) already employs hundreds of robots designed for specific jobs in the manufacturing of its cars.

In July this year, Tesla released footage of giant 6,000-tonne Giga Press creating car sections.

Initially, Musk has said that Optimus would perform boring or dangerous jobs, including moving parts around its factories.

Musk reportedly acknowledged that humanoid robots do not have enough intelligence to navigate the real world without being explicitly instructed.

But he said Tesla can leverage its expertise in AI and key components to develop and produce smart, yet less expensive, humanoid robots at scale.