Two years in the past, Tesla’s Optimus prototype was an underwhelming mess of exposed wires that might solely function in a rigorously managed stage presentation. Final evening, Tesla’s “We, Robot” event featured far more superior Optimus prototypes that might stroll round with out tethers and work together immediately with partygoers.
It was a formidable demonstration of the development of a expertise Tesla’s Elon Musk mentioned he thinks “would be the largest product ever of any sort” (method to set cheap expectations, there). However the dwell demos have additionally set off a firestorm of dialogue over simply how autonomous these Optimus robots at the moment are.
A robotic in each storage
Earlier than the human/robotic social gathering might get began, Musk launched the humanoid Optimus robots as a logical extension of a number of the expertise that Tesla makes use of in its automobiles, from batteries and motors to software program. “It is only a robotic with legs and arms as a substitute of a robotic with wheels,” Musk mentioned breezily, simply underselling the large variations between human-like actions and a automotive’s far more restricted enter choices.
After confirming that the corporate “began off with somebody in a robotic swimsuit”—a reference to a somewhat laughable 2021 Tesla presentation—Musk mentioned that “fast progress” has been made within the Optimus program in recent times. Extrapolating that progress to the “long run” future, Musk mentioned, would lead to a degree the place you could possibly buy “your individual private R2-D2, C-3PO” for $20,000 to $30,000 (although he did permit that it might “take us a minute to get to the long run”).
And what is going to you get for that $30,000 when the “long run” lastly involves move? Musk grandiosely promised that Optimus will be capable to do “something you need,” together with babysitting children, strolling canine, getting groceries, serving drinks, or “simply be[ing] your pal.” Given these promised capabilities, it is maybe no marvel that Musk confidently predicted that “each one of many 8 billion individuals of Earth” will need at the least one Optimus, resulting in an “age of abundance” the place the labor prices for many companies “declines dramatically.”
