Tesla has scheduled the 2022 “AI Day” event on September 30, local time in the United States, and from Friday to send out invitations, which mentioned that it will release more information about the driver-assisted driving system FSD, Tesla humanoid robot, supercomputing Dojo and other AI-related progress.
While it’s been a long time since Tesla held a formal product launch, the company has begun to regularly hold annual events centered on specific themes, much like Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) and fall product launches.
The tradition began in 2020 with Tesla’s “Battery Day,” when the automaker unveiled its new 4680 battery and plans to produce its own batteries for the first time.
Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla would hold its second “AI Day” in August, but he quickly postponed the event to Sept. 30 to allow more time to showcase a prototype Tesla robot at the event.
Tesla began sending out invitations to the event on Friday, local time in the United States. It reads.
“You have been invited to attend AI Day 2022 on September 30 in Palo Alto, California. You will have the opportunity to learn about the latest advances Tesla has made in AI, including FSD, robotics, Dojo and more.”
The invitation also offers notes.
To reserve your seat, please respond to this email by 11:59 pm on September 28th. We will follow up with more details and look forward to meeting you! You must have a valid ID to be admitted. Invitations are non-transferable and can only be used by anyone for admission. We do not cover travel and accommodation costs.”
So far, Tesla’s invitations appear to have been distributed randomly, although some FSD Beta testers and long-time Tesla car owners say they have received invitations to the event.
Elon Musk has previously identified “AI Day” as a recruiting tool for Tesla to expand its AI team. However, it could also be seen as a technology and vision presentation, where Tesla owners will get an update on the timeline and details on when and how Tesla plans to deliver on its promise to enable full self-driving capabilities in cars built since 2016.
Elon Musk has revised his expected targets several times recently. Initially, he said there would be 1 million self-driving cars on the road by the end of 2022, and now he’s changed it to say the number of FSD Beta testers will reach 1 million, but the two are completely different things.
Last year, Tesla launched its supercomputer project Dojo at its AI Day event, and this year, the company is expected to launch a cluster of supercomputers based on Dojo technology.
Finally, there’s Tesla Robotics. Elon Musk has repeatedly said that Tesla will have early prototypes ready for the event. He has made it clear that the humanoid robot project has become the company’s latest priority, even as it steals significant resources from the Autopilot and FSD teams.
Tesla also has its own plans for how to use such robots. In a job listing titled “Motion Planning and Navigation, Tesla Robotics,” the company writes that it plans to “use thousands of humanoid robots in its factories.
It says, “Tesla is building humanoid bipedal robots on a large scale to automate repetitive and tedious tasks. At the heart of Tesla’s robotics, the motion planning stack offers a unique opportunity to investigate state-of-the-art motion planning and navigation algorithms for eventual deployment into real-world production processes. Our motion planning software engineers are developing the stack. Most importantly, you will see thousands of humanoid robots being used in our factories.”
Tesla said the initial version of the Tesla robot will focus on completing simple repetitive tasks that will make the robot useful in a factory environment.
