Elon Musk, the CEO for Tesla Inc., showed off on Friday “Optimus” at an artificial-intelligence event. The new humanoid robot was an effort of the electric carmaker’s effort in shaping the view of the public that their company is more than just making electric vehicles.
The prototype showcased in the Tesla AI Day event was seen walking on the stage and waving to the audience. A video was shown presenting the robot to be carrying a box, moving stuff in the carmaker’s factory as well as watering plants.
“Our goal is to make a useful humanoid robot as quickly as possible,” Musk said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done to refine Optimus and prove it.”
According to the CEO, at the moment, humanoid robots are “missing a brain”, stating they lack intelligence, are expensive, and have low volume production. He says he intends to fill that gap by providing “extremely capable robots” that can be mass produced and can be purchased for less than the price of a car.
The billionaire claims that the robot business will likely garner more value than their cars’ total revenue. He predicted that they can produce millions of the humanoid robots and sell them for under $20,000. He said that Tesla may be ready to take orders within 3-5 years.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done to refine Optimus,” he said. “It won’t be boring.”
Showcased in the event was Optimus which had many of its wirings visible. He later showed a non-functioning model that had a sleeker look which, according to Musk, is closer to the production version they intend to release.