Tesla’s Optimus bot makes a scene at the robotaxi event

A number of Tesla’s humanoid Optimus robots came out alongside the unveiling of Tesla’s new Robovan car at tonight’s Cybercab event. The robot is also seen in the video doing everyday human tasks like bringing a package to the balcony and watering your plants.

“Optimus will walk among you,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk quips. “You will be able to walk until you reach them, they will bring you drinks.”

Musk explains that it can “do anything” and mentions examples like walking your dog, babysitting your kids, mowing the lawn, giving you drinks, etc. He said it would cost $20,000 to $30,000 “in the long run.”

“I think this is going to be the biggest product ever,” Musk said.

After the launch, live videos showed people interacting with the Optimus robots at tables and in the crowd. Still, the robots weren’t doing much other than waving in style Astro Bot. There was a drinks table – but the Optimus bot didn’t seem to be doing much more than holding a cup of ice. However, one bot can hand out small gift bags to another table and play rock paper scissors with guests. And there was an enclosed gazebo with a bunch of dancing robots inside.

The Tesla bot was not a serious product when Musk first unveiled the project in 2021, when a man in a robot suit took the stage to do a silly dance. But in 2022, the company showed a crude prototype that went well on stage.

Musk loftily promised that Optimus would be a “fundamental revolution for civilization.” And he does it for big investors: that it will bring “two orders of magnitude” of possible improvement of the economic result and that “it can be done in a very high volume, eventually millions of units.” Musk said it would cost about “$20,000” and allow for “a future where there is no poverty.”