Elon Musk shares planned details about Tesla’s upcoming robot

When Tesla comes to mind, you’re likely picturing one of the electric cars. Or thinking about one of founder Elon Musk’s many, many headlines. But what you’re probably not thinking of is robots. But, maybe you should.

Back in 2021, Tesla gave a demo of a humanoid robot it was working on. At Tesla’s shareholder meeting earlier this August, Musk confirmed that the robot, dubbed Optimus, is ready for unveiling in September. And now, the business mogul has shared more details about the upcoming bot.

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In a blog post, Musk detailed how the Tesla Bot will be able to “carry or pick up heavy objects, and walk fast in small steps”, while the “screen on its face is an interactive interface for communication with people”. According to the Tesla boss, the robot will replace humans in boring, repetitive, or dangerous tasks. Within the next ten years, he reckons we’ll be buying home robots as gifts for a price less than a car. We’ll see about that, but the Tesla Bot does sound like a remarkably handy bit of kit.

Forget clanky metal feet, nuts and bolts, and all the rest. Tesla’s robot is a humanoid robot, coming in at just under 6 feet. The initial version of the bot sported a white body, with a black fabric head and shoulders. We won’t be surprised if the appearance changed between the unveiling and the robot’s launch.

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If a Tesla Bot seems strange to you, we don’t blame you! While the tech giant is known for electric cars, the sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI) going on behind the cars make them more like robots. The tech powers the smart features like Autopilot, essentially making the vehicles robots on wheels.

Of course, all could still change around Optimus, as Tesla can be a little unreliable when it comes to new products. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see if the robot hops up on stage next to Musk in September…

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