Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, claims that Optimus, the company’s robot, will be “worth more than the vehicle business, worth more than FSD.”
FSD, or “full self-driving,” is Tesla’s sophisticated driver assistance system, which performs some autonomous driving functions using cameras and computer vision technology.
Tesla owners will pay around $12,000 for an FSD subscription, or up to $199 per month.
Tesla is still working on its robot, according to the executive during the company’s first-quarter 2022 earnings call. Optimus was initially shown off in August 2021 at Tesla’s first AI Day.
The 5’8″ robot will be powered by Tesla’s neural networks and Dojo sophisticated supercomputer, and Musk envisions it carrying out duties that would normally be considered drudgery for humans, including as grocery shopping and other mundane tasks.
So far, we’ve only seen a human in a white spandex jumpsuit representing the bot concept.
Musk claimed earlier this month at the launch of Tesla’s Austin gigafactory that a new generation of products, including Optimus, will be released in 2023.
On Wednesday’s earnings call, Musk remarked, “I was astonished that people didn’t realise the enormity of the Optimus robot programme.” “In the following years, the significance of Optimus will become clear. Those with a keen eye or a keen ear will notice that Optimus will eventually be worth more than the automobile industry, worth more than FSD.”
We’re not saying this is nonsense, but it seems unlikely that Tesla will be able to bring a robot like this to market any time soon.
Other firms have been attempting to develop humanoid robots to replace humans for years, and we haven’t heard a peep on why this would work for Tesla, especially given Musk’s tight timeline.
After all, it took Boston Dynamics 25 years of concentrated study to develop Atlas, and other automakers like as Honda, Toyota, and General Motors have also introduced robot prototypes in recent years that have landed on their feet.
To read our blog on “Mobile connectors will no longer be included with every Tesla vehicle,” click here.