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Tesla CEO Elon Musk demonstrates his much-touted humanoid robot "Optimus" on Friday at the electric vehicle maker's "AI Day" event.
The billionaire has stated that a robot business will be worth more than its automobiles, with the hope of expanding beyond self-driving vehicles, which, despite his repeated pledges, have yet to become a reality.
A robot prototype walked onto the stage and waved to the sitting crowd. A video was presented of the robot carrying a package, watering plants, and moving metal bars in the facility of the automobile.
"Our goal is to develop an usable humanoid robot as soon as feasible," Musk stated at the event, which took place at the Tesla headquarters in Palo Alto, California.
"There is still a lot of work to be done to refine and prove Optimus."
Humanoid robots are now "missing a brain," according to Musk, because they lack the intelligence to traverse the environment on their own, and they are also very expensive and produced in small quantities.
Optimus, on the other hand, would be a "highly capable robot" that would be manufactured in large quantities - eventually millions of units - and would cost far less than a car, at less than $20,000.
Musk was also set to speak about Tesla's long-delayed self-driving technology.
In May, the CEO stated that the world's most valuable automaker would be "worth practically zero" if it did not achieve full self-driving capacity, and the company is under increasing governmental scrutiny as well as technological challenges.
"There will be lots of technical information & cool hardware demos," Musk tweeted late Wednesday, adding that the event was intended to recruit engineers.
Tesla's track record of live demonstrations is mixed. Launches are usually met with applause, but in 2019, Musk had an employee hurl a steel ball through the armored window of a new electric pickup vehicle, and the glass cracked.
The essential test for the robot is its ability to deal with unforeseen scenarios.
Musk disclosed Tesla's idea for humanoid robots at its AI day in August last year, and this year's event has been pushed out from August to allow the company's robot prototype to be tested, with plans to begin production maybe next year.
Tesla previewed the bot's debut on social media with an image of metallic robotic hands forming a heart.
However, constructing human-like, adaptable hands that can operate various items is incredibly difficult, according to Heni Ben Amor, an Arizona State University robotics professor.
According to Musk, at first, Optimus, a reference to the powerful and benign commander of the Autobots in the Transformers media property, would undertake monotonous or dangerous tasks such as transporting parts around Tesla plants or connecting a bolt to a car with a wrench.
"There's so much about what individuals can accomplish dexterously that robots find really difficult."
And it makes no difference whether the robot is a robot arm or a humanoid," Jonathan Hurst, chief technology officer of Agility Robotics, a humanoid robot company, told Reuters.
Musk has stated that in the future, robots may be used in households to prepare meals, mow the lawn, care for the elderly, and even serve as a "buddy" or sex partner for humans.
He is also expected to provide updates on Tesla's high-speed computer, Dojo, which was debuted last year and is claimed to be critical to the company's development of self-driving technology.
Musk has stated that Tesla will achieve complete self-driving capability this year and will mass-produce a robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedal by 2024.
Musk predicted 1 million robotaxis by 2020 during a "Autonomy" event in 2019, but has yet to create such a vehicle.
