Tesla announced, back in 2022, that it would be bringing a humanoid robotic assistant to market some time in… well, the future. Optimus, so named because Elon Musk loves a pop culture reference, was supposed to have a working prototype out towards the end of 2022. It hasn’t turned up but it’s moving along. Literally.
Tesla shared a brief update video showing the Optimus robot’s current state of development. They’re presently able to shamble around like the cast of The Walking Dead but with, if that’s possible, even less life in them.
What would Tesla say?
As with many robots, the way that Tesla’s robot moves will seem disconcerting. They’re not fast (and Elon promised that we’d be able to outrun them) but they seem implacable and inevitable while shuffling across the various company environments they’re exploring. But it’s not just a plodding but rather a deadly pace being showcased by the video update.
The robots are also receiving training from actual human beings on how to interact with the world. This involves sorting objects into boxes — a surprisingly useful skill — and not stepping on raw eggs. Okay, that one’s a demonstration of variable ground pressure, but it still counts. Mostly, though, it’s all about Optimus traversing the floor like a monster from an old Hammer movie.
The company is big on a range of practical artificial intelligence applications at the moment, working on the robot, chipsets, software, and a whole host of other AI bits and pieces. If you’re interested in a career (and have Elon-impressing skills), you can check out the company’s AI jobs portal.