Tesla (TSLA) has given consumers the first in-person look at its new humanoid robot called “Optimus.”
The robot, also known as the “Tesla Bot,” was brought on stage at the electric vehicle maker’s annual “AI Day,” an engineer-recruiting event held in Palo Alto, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Tesla chief executive officer (CEO) Elon Musk showed off a humanoid robot, which he said was only a “rough development robot.” The robot walked on stage and waved its hands in the air.
Musk previously co-founded an artificial intelligence (AI) venture called OpenAI. In 2015, OpenAI boasted that it had trained a robot to solve a Rubik’s Cube on its own. However, Musk eventually abandoned OpenAI.
But now, Tesla is increasingly focusing on artificial intelligence, both in the development of self-driving vehicles and with the Optimus robot.
Musk showed off the Tesla Bot’s robotic hands, which can grasp and manipulate a wide range of objects.
Still, Musk cautioned that Tesla is still figuring out how to make a humanoid robot work in the real world, adding that it will likely be three to five years before consumers can buy an Optimus.
During a question-and-answer session, Musk admitted that developing a robot was not in keeping with Tesla’s core electric vehicle mission. He said Optimus expands the Tesla mission of “making the future awesome.”
Tesla’s stock is down 34% this year and trading at $265.25 U.S. per share.
