During tonight’s Tesla 2021 AI Day, to end the presentation, CEO Elon Musk unveiled the ‘Tesla Bot’ humanoid robot, set to debut in prototype form in 2022.
The Tesla Bot, according to Musk, said it will be “friendly”, and “eliminates dangerous, repetitive, boring tasks.”
The humanoid robot stands 5’8” tall, will weigh 125 pounds and can walk at 5 mph (8 km/h), a speed that will “let you run away from it,” said Musk.
The Tesla Bot will be able to carry up to 45 pounds, deadlift 150 pounds and its arm extend lift can handle 10 pounds.
According to Musk, the Tesla Bot will let customers tell it to, “Please go to the store and get me the following groceries,” with Musk adding, “I think we can do that”.
Musk said he believes this new humanoid robot is “quite profound because what is the economy? At the foundation it’s labour. What happens when there’s no shortage of labour. In the future, there will need to be universal basic income.”
“In the future, physical work will be a choice,” added Musk.
The Tesla Bot will have a screen on its face for useful information, have human-level hands, arms, neck, torso, and legs. The robot itself will be based on Tesla’s Autopilot software and hardware, powered by a Full Self-Driving computer.
The robot is codenamed ‘Optimus’ and while a prototype is expected in 2022, it’s unclear if and when Tesla Bots will hit the market, as so far all we have is Musk’s word that a prototype is coming next year.
Looks like we’re one step closer to Skynet, folks. Just listen to your next instructions from John Connor.
