Elon Musk announces a demo of Tesla's humanoid robot in late September
The next "AI day" at Tesla will take place on September 30, a little later than originally planned, and by then the functional prototype of the Optimus robot could reportedly be completed.
Behind Elon Musk is a dynamic week. In the space of just a few days, he announced that Tesla employees would have to start returning to their offices, and then stressed that he had a "very bad feeling" about the state of the global economy. He, therefore, announced that Tesla would lay off as many as 10% of employees, and verbally clashed with US President Joe Biden.
But in addition to all these political and business topics, Musk also tweeted about one technological project - the one that develops the humanoid robot Optimus. This robot, let us remind you, was announced at last year's Tesla "AI day". It should be a robot that looks, moves, and walks like a man.
In a body 1.72 meters high, with a weight of fewer than 60 kilograms, he should be able to carry loads weighing up to 20 kilograms and walk at speeds of up to 8 km / h.
It will be based on a computer powered by artificial intelligence, a derivative of the system used in Tesla's vehicles for autonomous driving. It was announced at the time that this machine would have its first application in Tesla's factories (perhaps as a replacement for the 10% of laid-off workers?).
Tesla's "AI Day" was supposed to take place at about the same time as last year, on August 19, but Musk has now announced that the event will be postponed for a few weeks.
"AI Day" will be held in Tesla on September 30, and the reason for the delay is interesting - until then, says Musk, they could have a functional prototype of Optimus. Last year it was supposed to be shown by the end of the year, but it didn’t happen. Who knows if this announcement will come true.
Humanoid robots could be a bigger business than cars in the future, Musk announced earlier, citing possible applications for this technology. His Optimus could be agile and strong enough to help people and perform certain actions in factories or households.
However, they will intentionally be slower and weaker than humans, which should reduce people's aversion to a robotic collaborator or helper - if we can overcome it and escape from it with ease, there should be no fear. That's why Musk jokingly calls this robot "Optimus Sub-Prime".
