Tesla Engineer Admits Optimus Robots Were 'Human Assisted To Some Extent' At Robotaxi Unveiling Event

Tesla Inc‘s TSLA humanoid robot Optimus was human-assisted “to some extent” at the ‘We, Robot’ event last week, company engineer Milan Kovac said on Wednesday.

What Happened: The “We, Robot” event was held by Tesla on Oct. 10 at Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.'s movie studio near Los Angeles. The company unveiled its dedicated two-seater robotaxi product, nicknamed the Cybercab, complete with butterfly wings that open upwards in addition to a Robovan that can accommodate up to 20 people.

The event also had the company’s humanoid robots interacting with the guests at the event.

“We had about 20 active bots at all times – walking through a packed crowd, dancing, taking selfies, or even pouring drinks and handing out snacks,” Optimus engineer Kovac said. The robots, he said, were “human-assisted to some extent” to showcase the company’s vision.

One of the robots also fell down after someone’s handbag caught its hand, Kovac said, implying that Tesla still has some way to go before the robots are perfect in its operations.

The company, however, made significant improvements in Optimus’ hardware stability and infrastructure to operate the robots in a public outdoor environment, the engineer noted.

Very proud of and grateful for the team's hard work leading to our 10/10 event last week.  So excited to give many people a live feel of our progress with Optimus and its expected future capabilities!

We had about 20 active bots at all times –  walking through a packed crowd,… pic.twitter.com/5d8HDtpzvi

— Milan Kovac (@_milankovac_) October 16, 2024

Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for a statement.

Why It Matters: During Tesla’s annual shareholder meeting in June, Musk said that there will be at least one humanoid robot for every person in the world in the future, implying a total humanoid robot population of at least 10 billion or more, of which the EV company will have a significant share.

"While autonomous vehicle is a $5-$7 trillion market cap situation, Optimus is a $25 trillion market cap situation," Musk then said.

Musk expects to be able to sell Optimus at $10,000 or $20,000, at a lower price point than Tesla's cheapest Model 3 sedan, once it reaches high-volume production.

In July, the CEO also said that the EV company would have “genuinely useful” humanoid robots in low production for use within its factories next year. The company will “hopefully” increase production for other customers in 2026, he said.

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Read More:

• Tesla Key Exec Says ‘We, Robot' Event Had 1,300 ‘Perfectly Safe' Autonomous Trips Driving Over 2,000 Guests ‘Really Amazing To See Users Take The Robotaxis For Granted’

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