Tesla unveiled the first actual prototype of its Optimus humanoid robot on Friday local time – by the strictest definition, this time a real robot rather than an actual flesh-and-blood human in a strange suit. According to Tesla founder Elon Musk, the robot performs some basic functions, such as walking slightly and then raising its hands – all without supports or a crane for the first time.
The company may be taking its first early steps toward humanoid robotics, but it has big implications for that business. Musk has said that Optimus robots will eventually be more valuable than the car business and more valuable than FSD.
At Friday night’s event, it was clear that Tesla is making financially smart but strategically questionable decisions with its linking of Optimus to its self-driving destiny.
Tesla implied that the reason it has been able to make such rapid progress in robotics is because it has laid much of the groundwork in its attempts to develop autonomous driving for cars.
This was a recurring theme throughout the presentation, with various speakers from Tesla mentioning how closely the two areas of research and development are actually linked.
In fact, the robot that Tesla presented at the event was a very brief demonstration that was barely comparable to and definitely not surpassed by the large number of humanoid robot demonstrations that other companies have done over the years, including most notably Boston Dynamics. And the connection between FSD and Optimus is tenuous at best.
While Tesla’s demo reduces the expertise in the field to a simple translation, it is actually a fairly complex field. Bipedal robots navigate pedestrian routes very differently than self-driving cars, and oversimplifying this connection is a disservice to the vast amount of existing research and development work on the topic.
Tesla’s speakers consistently made a relatively seamless transition between Optimus and the autonomous navigation capabilities of its vehicles. one of Optimus’ key speakers was Milan Kovac, the company’s director of self-driving software engineering, who was handing off to other self-driving directors Ashok Elluswamy to further explore the issue of autonomous driving in Tesla vehicles.
One thing that’s very clear is that Tesla sees this as a connected challenge that will yield efficiencies that the market appreciates in the pursuit of both issues. The reality is that there is a lot of convincing to be done to really articulate that these connections are more than superficial.
Not to mention, self-driving cars face their own challenges in terms of public and regulatory skepticism and scrutiny.
Tesla may have turned its “human” into a real robot with actual actuators and processors, but it has to deliver on the promise that it is a viable product and costs less than $20,000.
