Elon Musk has his hands in a lot of pies: space travel with SpaceX, brain implants with Neuralink, electric cars and now robotics with Tesla. While many have taken the idea of a humanoid Tesla Bot, Musk believes that its one of the company's most important products yet.
Via InsideEVs, electric vehicle company Tesla is putting all its effort into creating its first humanoid robot. With the delay of Cybertruck and a more affordable Tesla vehicle, the space has been primed for the company to focus on its robot product.
Tesla Bot Optimus must be ready this year
Despite its cringe-worthy reveal video, which featured Tesla Bot cosplays instead of real hardware, Musk is adamant that the robot will be the future. Dubbed Optimus, the company's first robot is designed to alleviate “labour shortages”.
In Tesla's 2021 Financial Report, CEO Elon Musk insisted that the Optimus robot is on top of Tesla’s priority list. While the product was teased again last October, no footage of the robot in action has ever been released.
During the report, Musk said:
“In terms of priority of products, I think the most important product development we’re doing this year is actually the Optimus humanoid robot. This, I think has the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business over time.
If you think about the economy, it is— the foundation of the economy is labor. Capital equipment is distilled labor. So, what happens if you don’t actually have a labor shortage? I’m not sure what an economy even means at that point. That’s what Optimus is about. So, very important."
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Optimus’ first job
If you're wondering what Tesla Bot will do, you're not alone. The humanoid robot is designed to do menial tasks that humans don't wish to do. However, that purpose will only come after the device has been commercialised.
Optimus’ first job will instead be working at the Tesla factories. The robot will help to build the company's electric vehicles; afterwards, maybe it can help you carry home some groceries? Well, if it ever releases.