Tesla unveils new humanoid robot at an awkward event
Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk has confused people with his latest tech product launch.
At Tesla’s AI Day event, Musk announced his new humanoid “Tesla bot”, which prompted one analyst to call the project a “head-scratcher that will further agitate investors.”
The entrepreneur said a 172cm, 56kg prototype robot could be ready as soon as next year.
Instead of waiting until a prototype was ready for the launch, Musk brought out a man in a latex bodysuit that was created to look like the robot’s design.
In a bizarre twist, when the “robot” came on stage, they broke out in a dance routine lasting one minute before Musk took to the stage.
Musk didn’t give many details on the Tesla bot, but insisted it will have a “profound” impact on the economy by driving down labour costs.
“But not right now because this robot doesn’t work,” Musk noted, nonetheless insisting that, “In the future, physical work will be a choice.”
“Talk to it and say, ‘please pick up that bolt and attach it to a car with that wrench,’ and it should be able to do that,” Musk said.
“‘Please go to the store and get me the following groceries.’ That kind of thing. I think we can do that.”
Musk says that the robot’s primary purpose will be to complete tasks that are “boring, repetitive and dangerous”, giving more free time to individuals who can afford the robot.
After onlookers raised concerns, Musk said the robot will be designed so that humans can easily run away from or overpower it if needed.
The Tesla CEO said the robot, which has been named Optimus, will run off the same chips and sensors as Tesla’s so-called Autopilot software, which has faced intense backlash from federal regulators and politicians.
Twitter users reacted to the news of the Tesla bot with an abundance of memes, saying the idea seemed to be straight out of a movie that does not end well for humankind.
Check out the unusual “prototype” unveiling below:
Image credits: Getty Images/Youtube