Elon Musk says Tesla is aiming to start out Optimus manufacturing subsequent yr

Tesla could begin manufacturing of a humanoid robotic often called Optimus as early as subsequent yr, CEO Elon Musk stated Thursday.

The electrical car maker first teased the robotic, also referred to as the Tesla Bot, at its “AI Day” in Aug. 2021, saying it will likely be a normal objective machine able to doing a variety of duties.

“We’ve a shot of being in manufacturing for model one in all Optimus hopefully subsequent yr,” Musk stated Thursday on the opening of Tesla’s new car meeting plant in Austin, Texas, the place he appeared on stage — in a cowboy hat and sun shades — to Dr. Dre’s “Nonetheless D.R.E.”

Tesla has but to disclose a working prototype of the robotic, nonetheless, and it is unclear how refined Optimus is at this stage.

Musk claimed that Optimus will finally give you the chance do something that people do not need to do, claiming that it’ll result in an “age of abundance.”

Placing a bullish tone, Musk additionally instructed that the robotic will “rework the world … to a level even larger” than the automobiles Tesla is famend for. “It is perhaps arduous to think about it,” he stated.

AI has been hailed as a possible menace to humanity and Musk stated in 2018 that he thinks AI is extra harmful that nuclear weapons. “As you see Optimus develop, everybody’s going to ensure it is secure,” he stated Thursday. “No Terminator stuff or that type of factor.”

He beforehand stated Tesla was designing the robotic in order that people can be able to operating away from it, or overpowering it.

When Musk first introduced Tesla’s robotic, he stated it will likely be based mostly on the identical chips and sensors that the corporate’s automobiles use for self-driving options. It’s 5 foot eight inches tall, in accordance with Musk, and has a display screen at head-height for helpful info.

Many individuals initially thought that the bot was little greater than an AI recruitment software for Tesla, however Musk stated in January that the robotic is definitely a high precedence for brand spanking new product growth this yr.

“I believe it has the potential to be extra vital than the car enterprise over time,” Musk stated of the robotic on the time. The truth that he is now speaking about manufacturing in 2023 suggests Optimus is certainly a severe endeavor.

AI researcher and entrepreneur Gary Marcus instructed CNBC he’d be keen to make a wager that no robotic will be capable of do all human duties by the tip of 2023.

“Tesla has not even (after years of effort) come near reliably fixing one comparatively easy process (driving); to assert {that a} robotic that has by no means been proven publicly will resolve all of human duties within the subsequent yr or two is preposterous,” he stated.

“He can ship no matter he needs subsequent yr, since he’s the boss, however there isn’t any manner that model one will come wherever close to his ambitions, whether it is launched that shortly.”

Musk is understood for his showmanship, through which he pronounces that Tesla is engaged on thrilling merchandise scheduled for years into the longer term to energise backers together with workers, clients, and buyers. Usually, merchandise launches don’t occur on the timeline predicted.

As an illustration, at an “Autonomy Day” occasion in April 2019, Musk stated the corporate would have 1 million autonomous “robotaxis” on the street in 2020. These robotaxis are nowhere to be seen.

And in October 2016, Musk held an occasion at Common Studios’ again lot in Los Angeles to indicate off a product he known as the Photo voltaic Roof. The photo voltaic roof tiles on show turned out to be merely conceptual.

— Further reporting by CNBC’s Kif Leswing.