‘Sometime next year,’ Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, his company will build a humanoid robot based on Tesla’s experience with automated machines in its factories, as well as some of the same hardware and software that power the Autopilot driver assistance system.
Having previously spoken boldly about the fear of runaway artificial intelligence, Musk said that the Tesla Bot is made not to be friendlier, but rather “to be highly useful.” It will stand five feet eight inches tall, weigh 125 pounds, and have a screen instead of a face. According to him, the bot’s code name is “Optimus.”
On the company website, it states that robots will be designed to accomplish boring, repetitive, and hazardous tasks, but little else for now. (“Tesla Bot” on the Tesla website) “I think physical work will basically be a choice in the future, if you decide to do it,” Musk said.
A couple of days after Musk shared drawings of the robot at his company’s “AI Day” event, whose goal is to one day power self-driving cars with artificial intelligence and supercomputers he’s working on. Additionally, the company had a mannequin version on the stage, which didn’t work.
We don’t know for sure whether Tesla Bot will ever come to fruition, as the company’s history is littered with ideas that didn’t work – like solar-powered Supercharging, battery swaps, or robotic snake-style chargers. Musk’s sheer will has contributed to the success of Tesla. However, when asked how profitable the robotics industry might be in the short-term, Musk replied, “we will have to see.”