Elon Musk reveals plans to launch 'Tesla Bot' humanoid ROBOT in 2022, designed for dangerous, repetitive, or boring work that people don't like to do
Tesla may launch a humanoid robot next year, designed to handle dangerous, repetitive or boring work people don't like to do, CEO Elon Musk has announced.
The entrepreneur made the revelation during Tesla's AI Day event yesterday, which was livestreamed from the firm's Palo Alto, California-based headquarters.
Mr Musk said that the robot would stand at around five feet, eight inches tall and could handle jobs from picking up groceries to bolting together cars with a wrench.
The automaton, he added, will address labour shortages and have 'profound implications for the economy.'
While it is unclear how much the 'Tesla Bot' will ultimately retail for, Mr Musk said that it would be important not to make the machine 'super-expensive'.
Tesla may launch a humanoid robot next year, designed to handle dangerous, repetitive or boring work people don't like to do, CEO Elon Musk has announced
Mr Musk (pictured) made the revelation during Tesla's AI Day event yesterday, which was livestreamed from the firm's Palo Alto, California-based headquarters
The AI Day event came amid growing concerns over the safety and capability of Tesla's 'Full Self-Driving' advanced driver assistant system, which is powered by a combination of in-car cameras and computers.
While Mr Musk did not comment directly on the recent scrutiny being given to the safety of Tesla's technology, he did express confidence that the firm would achieve full self-driving with higher safety levels than human motorists.
Earlier this week, US safety regulators opened an investigation into Tesla's driver assistant system after a spate of accidents in which Tesla cars crashed into police cars and a stationary fire truck while on autopilot.
Two US senators — Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Edward Markey of Massachusetts — have also called on the Federal Trade Commission to launch a probe into the veracity of Tesla's claims around its 'Full Self-Driving' system.
At the AI day event, Tesla also unveiled new chips it designed for integration into its high-speed supercomputer — Dojo — which will help develop its automated driving system by training AI models.
Dojo, Mr Musk said, will be operational next year.
The CEO also revealed that Tesla will be introducing new hardware for the self-driving computer in its Cybertruck electric pick-up truck in 'about a year or so.'
This follows the announcement in July that the firm will be pushing back the commercial launch of the Cybertruck from this year — but Tesla has not made it clear when it expects the futuristically-styled vehicle to hit the market.
Mr Musk said that the robot would stand at around five feet, eight inches tall and could handle jobs from picking up groceries to bolting together cars with a wrench
The automaton, Mr Musk added, will address labour shortages and have 'profound implications for the economy'
Mr Musk has form for touting upcoming technological advances at showpiece events only to later scale down his plans, leading some on Thursday to question whether he would be able to realise his ambition for the Tesla Bot.
'Is the 'Tesla Bot' the next dream shot to pump up the hype machine?' mused electrical and computer engineer Raj Rajkumar of the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
'I can safely say that it will be much longer than 10 years before a humanoid bot from any company on the planet can go to the store and get groceries for you.'
