Elon Musk Says Optimus Robot Will 'Babysit Your Kids' in Weirdest Prediction Yet

Elon Musk was each smiles during the Tesla shareholder’s gathering successful Austin, Texas connected Thursday, a information that was understandable fixed his triumph successful a $45 billion wage bundle dispute. But the astir absorbing portion of Musk’s presumption to shareholders came erstwhile the Tesla CEO started talking astir his plans for the Optimus robot. Because, lad ohio boy, it was rather a laundry database of promises.

“It’s, you know, your companion, it tin beryllium astatine your house, it tin benignant of babysit your kids, it could thatch them... beryllium a teacher. It, you know, it tin bash mill stuff,” Musk said portion describing the robot connected Thursday.

Musk went connected to accidental Optimus would beryllium similar having your ain idiosyncratic robot from the Star Wars franchise.

“Like, who doesn’t privation a C3PO, you know? You know, but a C3PO positive R2D2 plus, you know, positive plus. It would beryllium beauteous awesome. I deliberation everyone successful the satellite is going to privation one. Like, virtually everyone,” Musk continued.

Musk archetypal announced Tesla’s Optimus robot back successful 2021 erstwhile helium brought retired a idiosyncratic successful a robot costume. And the robot appears to person made immoderate existent strides since that archetypal unveiling. The robot tin present locomotion connected 2 legs, for instance, which is an accomplishment considering that it utilized to beryllium an imaginary thing. But the footage that’s been made nationalist shows that Optimus inactive lags down large competitors successful significant ways.

And we accidental “footage that’s been made public,” due to the fact that that’s each we tin justice the robot’s advancement connected and determination wasn’t immoderate revolutionary real-world objection astatine the gathering connected Thursday. The large advancements were each successful Musk’s head, and communicated arsenic things that volition beryllium happening successful the future—one year, 2 years, and who knows however galore years down the line.

The shareholder meeting, which was livestreamed connected YouTube and X, saw Musk importune his robots would beryllium making immoderate precise important advancements soon. And, arsenic you tin spot from the database of quotes from the billionaire CEO below, immoderate of them are wildly optimistic.

• “I deliberation we’ve got benignant of similar 1 large hardware revision, which should beryllium done by extremity of this twelvemonth oregon aboriginal next, and past we’ll determination into a constricted accumulation adjacent twelvemonth of Optimus. Limited accumulation for usage successful our factories.”
• “My prediction is adjacent twelvemonth we’ll person implicit a thousand, possibly a fewer thousand, Optimus robots moving astatine Tesla.”

And those were the comparatively humble predictions. Then Musk started to get much bold with it.

• “The grade of autonomy volition beryllium radically better. You’ll conscionable virtually beryllium capable to speech to it and accidental ‘please bash this task’ oregon ‘I’m gonna amusement you something. Now bash that the happening that I’m showing you.’”
• “[Optimus will] get to the constituent wherever it tin ticker a video of thing similar a idiosyncratic and past larn conscionable by looking astatine that video and bash that task.”
• “I’m assured of the prediction that determination volition beryllium more... similar the ratio of humanoid robots to humans volition beryllium greater than 1 to one. So there’ll be, you know, much than 10 cardinal humanoid robots successful the world. Probably 20 oregon more... and Tesla is gonna beryllium by acold the person successful that.”
• “It volition beryllium capable to play the piano. So it’s truly similar wow.”

There person been plentifulness of robots that play the piano, of course. The question is whether you tin marque a robot that plays the soft well. But past Musk made a prediction astir the worth of Tesla successful the future.

• “I hold with the ARK Invest investigation that autonomous transport is called benignant of a $5-7 trillion marketplace headdress situation. Optimus, I think, is simply a 25. Literally $25 trillion marketplace headdress situation.”

You’ll announcement that Musk didn’t springiness a precise day for erstwhile helium expects Tesla volition execute a marketplace headdress of $25 trillion. For context, Apple’s existent marketplace headdress is $3.29 trillion.

Will immoderate of Musk’s predictions travel true? As always, nary 1 knows the aboriginal with immoderate certainty. Lots of chaotic things tin happen, and Musk’s automotive competitors, similar BMW, are already investigating humanoid robots successful factories. So we cognize immoderate of Musk’s goals are achievable, if lone due to the fact that different companies are already doing it.

However, we inactive person a agelong mode to spell earlier we spot robots babysitting kids. At slightest a agelong mode earlier specified a happening tin beryllium done responsibly. And that’s much oregon little the crux of the occupation erstwhile it comes to Musk and his consumer-facing products. The Tesla CEO has been promising autonomous vehicles for truthful galore years now, and we benignant of person them. They’re conscionable not thing that immoderate liable idiosyncratic would trust connected heavy yet. Case successful point, the Tesla operator successful Orange County, California who slammed into a bull car connected Thursday portion allegedly utilizing Full Self-Driving.

Maybe don’t permission your babe with Optimus conscionable yet, adjacent if Musk yet figures retired however to get these robots to market.