Elon Musk claimed this week that Tesla’s humanoid robots will be “the greatest product of any kind ever” – sparking a lively debate over when and if he will manage to put robots in every home.
The walking and talking Optimus robot turned heads at an event held Thursday night in Los Angeles to showcase the company’s “Cybercar,” a self-driving taxi.
nearly 6 foot tall robot Danced on stage to techno music, served fruity cocktails and played Rock, Paper, Scissors,
Musk said bots can do “basically anything you want” — like mowing your lawn, cleaning the kitchen after dinner, taking care of your kids or just being a friend — and It will cost less than a carBetween $20,000 to $30,000 in the long run.
Musk was silent about timing on Thursday, but earlier this year he said Tesla might be able to do it Sell humanoid robots by the end of 2025,
Still, experts disagree on whether Musk will be able to overcome many of the hurdles bots face in just a few years.
Dev Nag, CEO of QueryPal, a support automation company that uses artificial intelligence, said it will take five or more years before consumers see Optimus bots in their homes.
Nag told The Post, “The robot still faces challenges in areas such as consistently moving across uneven terrain, lasting all day on a single battery charge, and safely navigating around people and pets — it The problem is much more difficult than it seems.”
“Although Musk is known for his ambitious timelines, most experts believe Optimus will prove itself in factories and warehouses before it is ready for home use,” he said.
This is despite the dazzling abilities displayed by the Optimus bots on Thursday night.
“how is everybody?” A bartending bot wearing a cowboy hat and apron beckons guests with a Texas drawl sign.
When a customer asked for a watermelon-flavored drink, Cow-Bot double-checked the order: “Watermelon? ‘of course you can!’
Robotics artist Agnieszka Pilat, who works with Boston Dynamics and Agility Robotics, agrees that projecting a robot within five years is “very optimistic.”
According to Pilat, the bots will first be made available to billionaires and other high-status individuals within five years, but a full retail rollout will take about a decade.
“Mass adoption will take time because they are very expensive. They will not be deployed. The software is complex and the hardware is complex,” Pilat told The Post. “Where are the flying cars?”
On the other hand, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives — who said he spoke for more than an hour with the Optimus robot at Thursday night’s event in Hollywood — is almost as optimistic as Musk.
He hopes that bots will be in homes by 2027.
Ives told The Post that the robots unveiled Thursday night were completely “non-programmatic” and on their way to being “fully autonomous.”
“What Tesla unveiled last night was a surprise,” he said. “Last night, I believe, was a historic event.”
Optimus bots were far more advanced than tech experts expected after Musk introduced his “Tesla bot” in 2021 – a man who danced on stage in a robot suit – and displayed a prototype in 2022 that was hosted by a stand There was a need to do it.
Shawn Dubravac, CEO of the Everio Institute, which helps companies anticipate technological changes, said home robots will eventually become as common as washing machines and dishwashers.
But he agrees with other experts that there are many hurdles beyond price point that Musk still has to overcome.
“They can handle simple tasks now, but full autonomy for complex household tasks is still some time away,” Dubravac told The Post. “What makes other home robots, like washing machines and dishwashers, successful is their ability to handle different tasks almost flawlessly every time.”
Dubravac said Optimus can also expect to face legal hurdles when it comes to security standards, data privacy and liability in the event of a malfunction.
Ives admits Musk’s Tesla is “in a very bright spotlight”. “If there is an incident with a robot, it will be heavily investigated.”
Experts said Optimus may also face social and cultural challenges when it comes to wider rollout. But Ives argued that tech giants have overcome those hurdles before.
“In 2007, people saw the concept of the smartphone as off-the-rails,” Ives told The Post. “Now, look where we are today.”
