AutoTesla’s robot is no longer a man in a spandex suit, but I’d still rather have a RoombaIt walks! It waves! It, er, doesn’t really do anything else for $20,000!When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
AutoTesla’s robot is no longer a man in a spandex suit, but I’d still rather have a RoombaIt walks! It waves! It, er, doesn’t really do anything else for $20,000!When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
It walks! It waves! It, er, doesn’t really do anything else for $20,000!
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Tesla)
(Image credit: Tesla)
Do you remember when Tesla announced its autonomous robot last year and it turned out to be a skinny man in a spandex suit gyrating to EDM? I do, so I was a bit surprised that this year’s robot reveal managed to show off an actual robot. Tesla has unveiled a prototype of its Optimus humanoid robot, a robot that could have as big an impact on the world as that daft Tesla tunnel underneath Las Vegas.
The consensus among AI and robotics experts appears to be that Tesla is over-promising and is going to under-deliver. Which sounds awfully familiar.
Why I’d rather have a Roomba
According to Elon Musk, the price of the Optimus could be less than $20,000 / £20,000, and you’ll be able to buy one in three to five years. Experts aren’t convinced, not least because the only thing Optimus was able to do in the demo was to walk slowly and wave. The demonstrations of it moving things around were on video, not live.
AsTechCrunchpointed out, the robot reveal was part of an event primarily designed to recruit new Tesla staff – and “what Tesla showed with its robot on stage at the event was a very brief demo that barely matched and definitely didn’t exceed a large number of humanoid robot demonstrations from other companies over the years, including most famously Boston Dynamics.”
Right now, the Optimus robot is less useful than aRoomba– and cynical me suspects that’s going to be the case for a long time yet.
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