Recent updates from Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk revealed progress on the automaker’s Humanoid Robot project named Optimus. Musk announced that internal production will start in 2025 with a hope for increased output by 2026 catering to other businesses.
The Optimus android robot was introduced by Tesla at their Artificial Intelligence Day just three years back.
While Tesla is primarily recognized for its advancements in AI through the Full Self-Driving (FSD) suite, Optimus has emerged as one of the company’s flagship ventures, promising to automate mundane and repetitive tasks.
However, true to Tesla’s unconventional approach, developments on this front have not proceeded as swiftly as Musk initially projected. The initial plan, as unveiled in 2021, was to have functional units in Tesla factories by 2022. Though some rudimentary tasks have been accomplished recently, this timeline was not met.
Musk shared insights on Optimus and its prospective capabilities:
“The Tesla bot will initially focus on mundane and repetitive tasks, essentially handling tasks that humans find unappealing… The most challenging aspect of a useful humanoid robot is its ability to navigate the world without explicit training, without step-by-step instructions. Can you engage with it and instruct, ‘Retrieve that screw, affix it to the vehicle using that wrench.’ It should be able to execute that.”
Currently, Musk projects the availability of “truly beneficial” humanoid robots in limited production for Tesla’s internal use by next year. The timeline also sees anticipated expanded production by 2026 for external customers:
Tesla will introduce genuinely useful humanoid robots in limited production for internal Tesla operations next year, with the aim of scaling up production for external clients by 2026
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 22, 2024
Tesla has been actively recruiting for roles within the Optimus program in recent months. In March, Tesla was on the lookout for experts in field testing for the humanoid robot.
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