Optimus (robot)

Optimus, also known as Tesla Bot, is a general-purpose robotic humanoid under development by Tesla, Inc.[1] It was announced at the company's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Day event on August 19, 2021,[1] and a prototype was shown in 2022. CEO Elon Musk stated in 2022 that he thinks Optimus "has the potential to be more significant than [Tesla's] vehicle business over time."[2][3] Media and expert opinions based on corporate showcases have been mixed.

History

On April 7, 2022, a display for the product was featured at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing facility during the Cyber Rodeo event. Musk said that he hoped to have the robot production ready by 2023 and claimed Optimus will eventually be able to do "anything that humans don’t want to do."

Reception

Initial reactions

Soon after the 2021 AI Day event, many publications reacted with skepticism about the proposed product. Bloomberg News claimed that such a product constituted "mission creep" and stood outside "the company’s clean-energy initiatives."[28] The Washington Post argued that "Tesla has a history of exaggerating timelines and overpromising at its product unveilings and investor presentations."[1] The Verge similarly noted that "Tesla’s history is littered with fanciful ideas that never panned out... it’s anyone’s guess as to whether a working Tesla Bot will ever see the light of day"[29] and, in an editorial, described the Optimus reveal as a "bizarre and brilliant bit of tomfoolery".[30]

The progress made with the prototypes shown at the 2022 AI Day was praised by some commentators.[31] Other commentators stipulated that all that was shown in these latest presentations had already been accomplished by other robotics programs,[32] and that there appears to be little to suggest Tesla could "outpace other companies working on similar things."[33]

In a 2024 essay, Robert Silverberg suggested that Optimus Generation 2 was the realization of the "humanoids" in Jack Williamson's classic 1947 science fiction story "With Folded Hands...", along with their worst drawbacks.[34]

Expert opinions

Reactions across the robotics community to Optimus and its prototypes have been "diverse", with some experts commending the venture while describing early demonstrations as less than impressive.

Carl Berry, a lecturer of robotics engineering, described the 2021 AI Day presentation as "the usual overblown hype."[30] Following the Optimus display at the Cyber Rodeo event, researcher Gary Marcus stated he would "bet that no robot will be able to do all human tasks by the end of 2023."[2]

Regarding the 2022 AI Day presentation, Deutsche Welle cited experts – AI researcher Filip Piekniewski, robotics expert Cynthia Yeung, and executive director of Mass Robotics Tom Ryden – calling the project a "complete and utter scam", questioning how advanced it really was, and criticizing the choice of a humanoid form.[35]

In 2025, Australian roboticist Rodney Brooks, the cofounder of Roomba vacuum creator iRobot, said the idea of humanoid robots as catchall assistants, the future Elon Musk envisions, is "pure fantasy thinking," in part because robots are coordination-challenged.[36]

History

Generation 2

Generation 3

Specifications

Reception

Initial reactions

Expert opinions

Name

References

manufacturer	Tesla, Inc.
year of creation	2022
type	Humanoid
purpose	General-purpose