Elon Musk’s Beer-Pouring Optimus Robots Are Not Autonomous

Elon Musk has done it again. And by “it,” we mean tricked a batch of radical with “autonomous” robots that are really being helped by unseen quality operators. And this isn’t the archetypal clip Musk has done this.

On Thursday night, Tesla threw a highly anticipated media lawsuit astatine Warner Bros. studios adjacent Los Angeles and unveiled a prototype robotaxi that Musk calls the Cybercab. Consumers volition person to hold connected that 1 since Musk says it’s inactive 2-3 years away, conscionable arsenic it has been for the past decade.

But that didn’t dampen spirits astatine the afterparty, arsenic radical who attended the Tesla lawsuit posted dozens of videos connected societal media with Musk’s Optimus robots. Attendees seemed precise impressed arsenic the robots were dancing, talking, and adjacent mixing drinks.

However, longtime tech evangelist Robert Scoble really asked immoderate questions to spot conscionable however autonomous these robots are. And it’s not precise encouraging.

“Optimus marque maine a drink, please. This is not wholly AI. A quality is distant assisting. Which means AI time adjacent twelvemonth wherever we volition spot however accelerated Optimus is learning,” Scoble tweeted on with a video.

Optimus marque maine a drink, please.

This is not wholly AI. A quality is distant assisting.

Which means AI time adjacent twelvemonth wherever we volition spot however accelerated Optimus is learning. pic.twitter.com/CE2bEA2uQD

— Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer) October 11, 2024

Other users wanted to cognize however Scoble figured it out. The tech influencer tweeted backmost simply, “I asked.”

Scoble tin beryllium heard successful the video asking 1 of the robots, “Hey Optimus, however overmuch of you is AI?”

The robot, oregon whoever was controlling it, seemed to scramble for an answer, saying “I can’t disclose conscionable however much. That’s thing you’ll person to find retired later.”

“But immoderate oregon none?” Scoble asked with a laugh.

“I would say, it mightiness beryllium some. I’m not going to confirm, but it mightiness beryllium some,” the robot responded.

I asked. pic.twitter.com/FkgPrdRlyW

— Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer) October 11, 2024

That beauteous overmuch tells you each you request to know. If Musk had truly built a clump of robots that could interact with ample crowds successful existent time, the robot would’ve bragged astir it. Instead, the effect was evasive.

Scoble made a follow-up tweet saying helium talked with a Tesla technologist to get clarity.

“When it walked that is AI moving Optimus. It is existent awesome they brought truthful galore retired successful crowds astatine @tesla’s event,” Scoble wrote, without elaborating further.

Plenty of radical thought they were afloat autarkic robots, interacting with humans conscionable similar different quality beings. “This tech is years up of immoderate competition,” 1 idiosyncratic connected X wrote. The occupation is, based connected everything we cognize astir Tesla’s robotics achievements, Musk is really mode down the competition.

In fact, Musk’s contention started adding the words “no teleoperation” to their videos precisely due to the fact that helium got caught fudging a objection video backmost successful January. The video showed Optimus folding a shirt, but eagle-eyed viewers noticed that a manus kept waving into the camera’s tract of vision. There was idiosyncratic conscionable off-screen performing the task of folding and the robot mimicked the human.

As you tin spot successful the GIF below, we’ve added a reddish arrow to amusement you wherever the quality manus is. That technology, teleoperation, is truthful cutting borderline that it dates to the 1940s.

Tesla’s Optimus robot folding laundry successful Jan. 2024 with an annotation of a reddish arrow added by Gizmodo showing the quality hand. (Tesla/Elon Musk)

But nary of Musk’s magic tricks should beryllium surprising. He did clasp the lawsuit Thursday astatine Warner Bros. studios successful Burbank, truthful you knew helium was going to effort adding immoderate movie magic. And Musk’s first robot demo successful 2021 was truthful embarrassing it’s hard to adjacent telephone it a trick. It was virtually conscionable a quality dressed successful a robot costume doing a anserine small dance.

As 1 credulous idiosyncratic connected X enactment it, “Tesla 2022. Person successful a Robot suit. Tesla 2024. Actual Robot.” And putting speech the information that Musk’s fake robot suit happened successful 2021, it would beryllium awesome if these robots were so playing rock-paper-scissors afloat autonomously without quality involution and holding accelerated conversations without immoderate benignant of lag astatine all. But we’ve seen nary grounds that that’s what mightiness beryllium happening.

Tesla 2022. Person successful a Robot suit.

Tesla 2024. Actual Robot. pic.twitter.com/wvwCnlcmQu

— Jason Kelly 🌵 (@_HiddenLayers) October 11, 2024

Musk talked astir Optimus astatine the lawsuit without giving immoderate denotation that they were thing but afloat autonomous. He said they would mow your lawn, get your groceries, and adjacent watch your kids. But doing those kinds of activities would necessitate afloat AI-powered autonomy unless you wanted to prosecute a quality sitting remotely determination controlling them. And then, what’s the point?

Musk besides said the robots would yet outgo $20-30,000 long-term and claimed Optimus would beryllium “the biggest merchandise ever of immoderate kind.” But, again, that’s hard to execute if your robot requires a batch of quality involution down the scenes.

Gizmodo has reached retired to Tesla to get immoderate clarification astir what level of autonomy the Optimus robots were achieving connected Thursday. We’ll update this station if we perceive back.