Two years in the past, Tesla’s Optimus prototype was an underwhelming mess of uncovered wires that might solely function in a rigorously managed stage presentation. Final night time, Tesla’s “We, Robotic” occasion featured far more superior Optimus prototypes that might stroll round with out tethers and work together immediately with partygoers.
It was a powerful demonstration of the development of a know-how Tesla’s Elon Musk stated he thinks “would be the largest product ever of any variety” (method to set cheap expectations, there). However the dwell demos have additionally set off a firestorm of debate over simply how autonomous these Optimus robots presently are.
A robotic in each storage
Earlier than the human/robotic celebration may get began, Musk launched the humanoid Optimus robots as a logical extension of among the know-how 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 stated breezily, simply underselling the large variations between human-like actions and a automobile’s far more restricted enter choices.
After confirming that the corporate “began off with somebody in a robotic go well with”—a reference to a considerably laughable 2021 Tesla presentation—Musk stated that “speedy progress” has been made within the Optimus program in recent times. Extrapolating that progress to the “long run” future, Musk stated, would lead to some extent the place you may buy “your individual private R2-D2, C-3PO” for $20,000 to $30,000 (although he did enable that it may “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 cross? Musk grandiosely promised that Optimus will be capable of do “something you need,” together with babysitting children, strolling canine, getting groceries, serving drinks, or “simply be[ing] your good friend.” Given these promised capabilities, it is maybe no marvel that Musk confidently predicted that “each one of many 8 billion folks of Earth” will need not less than one Optimus, resulting in an “age of abundance” the place the labor prices for many providers “declines dramatically.”
