Elon Musk Unveils the Tesla Bot: A Humanoid Robot Designed to Take on Dangerous and Repetitive Tasks

At Tesla's AI Day event, Elon Musk introduced the world to the Tesla bot, a humanoid robot designed to take on dangerous and repetitive tasks that are currently performed by humans. The robot is described as a slim human-like machine with a white body and gray accents from its feet to where its collarbones would be, followed by an all-black section.

The robot's design is intended to make it look friendly and approachable, with Musk joking about the bot saying "you would be able to run away from it" if you didn't like it. However, the robot itself is not designed for speed, reaching speeds of only up to 5 miles per hour. Despite its slow pace, the Tesla bot is capable of carrying 45 pounds and dead lifting 150 pounds, making it a formidable presence in a variety of environments.

One of the primary goals of the Tesla bot is to eliminate dangerous repetitive tasks that are currently performed by humans. This includes tasks such as cleaning, construction, and manufacturing, which can be hazardous or time-consuming for humans. The robot's design takes into account this goal, with its head featuring a screen to provide information to whomever is looking at it.

The Tesla bot will run on Tesla's full self-driving computer with an autopilot system using eight cameras to help with AI. This means that the robot will have access to advanced AI capabilities, including neural net cleaning simulation and multicam video neural networks. The bot will also be able to perform tasks that it was not explicitly trained for, such as telling the bot to go get your groceries or attach a bolt to something.

So why is the Tesla bot being developed? According to Musk, Tesla is "arguably the world's biggest robotics company" due to its semi-sentient robots on wheels. The robot itself was not specifically designed for manufacturing needs, but rather as a general-purpose bipedal humanoid robot capable of performing tasks that are unsafe or repetitive.

In a Q&A session with the Tesla team, Musk explained that the company is "just obviously making the pieces that are needed for a useful humanoid robot." He also stated that if someone else were to develop the robot instead, Tesla would not be interested in creating it. However, Musk emphasized that the goal of the Tesla bot is to make "useful ai that people love and and is unequivocally good."

Musk's thoughts on AI are complex and multifaceted. In 2017, he was part of a group who wrote a letter to the UN warning about the dangers of lethal autonomous weapons. He has also stated that AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization.

Despite these warnings, Musk believes that Tesla is working towards creating "useful ai that people love and and is unequivocally good." This approach is reflected in the company's latest job description for developing the next generation of automation, including a general-purpose bipedal humanoid robot capable of performing tasks that are unsafe or repetitive.

The potential applications of the Tesla bot are endless, from cleaning and construction to manufacturing and more. However, it remains to be seen whether this robot will live up to its promise of making life easier and safer for humans. As Musk himself joked, if you don't like the bot, "you would be able to run away from it."

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enelon musk introduced the world to the tesla but yeah so let's talk about it at tesla's ai day event elon musk unveiled the tesla bot a humanoid robot here's what it looks like in all its rendered glory it's a slim human-like machine the body is white with gray accents from its feet to where its collarbones would be then it's all black what can you do take a look at this okay elon musk said that what we just saw with the dancing was not real but he did share a couple of slides showing what to expect from the tesla bot we'd be looking at a friendly five foot eight robot weighing only 125 pounds since it is built out of undisclosed lightweight materials it would be able to carry 45 pounds and dead lift 150 pounds the tesla bot is not fast it reaches speeds of up to 5 miles per hour musk joked about the bot saying you would be able to run away from it and most likely overpower it i'm not making that up he also said we certainly hope that this does not feature in a dystopian sci-fi movie i'm not making that up either one of the goals of the tesla bot is to eliminate dangerous repetitive boring tasks there was a slide on the technical details the head would feature a screen to provide information to whomever is looking at the bot it would run on tesla's full self-driving computer with an autopilot system using eight cameras to help ai is a big part of teslabot with one slide mentioning the use of neural net cleaning simulation and multicam video neural networks the bot will be using all the tools that are in tesla cars musk said that one of the goals of the tesla bot is to have it do things that it was not explicitly trained to do telling the bot to go get your groceries or attach a bolt to something should be doable a prototype of the tesla bot could be a reality in 2022 alright so why is this happening musk said that quote tesla is arguably the world's biggest robotics company our cars are basically semi-sentient robots on wheels he also explained that the robot is not specifically prompted by manufacturing needs he also had this to say we're just obviously making the pieces that are needed for a useful humanoid robot um so i guess we probably should make it and if we don't someone else would well and so i guess we should make it and make sure it's safe in a q a session the tesla team was asked if emotion and companionship is on the road map for teslabot musk answered with i'm sure people will think of some very creative uses the team was also asked about how important it is to maintain a humanoid form with hands that have five fingers musk explained that they'll start with five fingers for version one and see if it works the bot needs to be able to do things like work with tools or carry a bag there was also a question about the economics of the tesla bot if the bot is designed to take on boring repetitive and dangerous tasks which can be low paying for humans how will tesla build a robot to operate in that space musk's response was well i guess you'll just have to see if you want to help develop teslabot check out tesla.com ai a job description reads develop the next generation of automation including a general purpose bipedal humanoid robot capable of performing tasks that are unsafe repetitive or boring so this is weird right back in 2017 musk was a part of a group who wrote a letter to the un warning of the danger of lethal autonomous weapons also this teslabot would be using ai to handle tasks it was not programmed for right in a 2017 meeting of the national governors association musk said quote i have access to the very most cutting edge ai and i think people should be really concerned about it he also said quote ai is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization so here's what he had to say about ai now but what what we're trying to do here at tesla is make useful ai that people love and and is unequivocally good that's our you know try to aim for that well this is certainly an interesting reality if you would like to be less terrified by a robot check out this one that helps remove trash from bodies of water i'm curious what boring repetitive or dangerous activity would you have the tesla bot take on let me know in the comments i'm maya zakhtar and i'll see you online this is one of the strangest stories i think i've reported in a long timeelon musk introduced the world to the tesla but yeah so let's talk about it at tesla's ai day event elon musk unveiled the tesla bot a humanoid robot here's what it looks like in all its rendered glory it's a slim human-like machine the body is white with gray accents from its feet to where its collarbones would be then it's all black what can you do take a look at this okay elon musk said that what we just saw with the dancing was not real but he did share a couple of slides showing what to expect from the tesla bot we'd be looking at a friendly five foot eight robot weighing only 125 pounds since it is built out of undisclosed lightweight materials it would be able to carry 45 pounds and dead lift 150 pounds the tesla bot is not fast it reaches speeds of up to 5 miles per hour musk joked about the bot saying you would be able to run away from it and most likely overpower it i'm not making that up he also said we certainly hope that this does not feature in a dystopian sci-fi movie i'm not making that up either one of the goals of the tesla bot is to eliminate dangerous repetitive boring tasks there was a slide on the technical details the head would feature a screen to provide information to whomever is looking at the bot it would run on tesla's full self-driving computer with an autopilot system using eight cameras to help ai is a big part of teslabot with one slide mentioning the use of neural net cleaning simulation and multicam video neural networks the bot will be using all the tools that are in tesla cars musk said that one of the goals of the tesla bot is to have it do things that it was not explicitly trained to do telling the bot to go get your groceries or attach a bolt to something should be doable a prototype of the tesla bot could be a reality in 2022 alright so why is this happening musk said that quote tesla is arguably the world's biggest robotics company our cars are basically semi-sentient robots on wheels he also explained that the robot is not specifically prompted by manufacturing needs he also had this to say we're just obviously making the pieces that are needed for a useful humanoid robot um so i guess we probably should make it and if we don't someone else would well and so i guess we should make it and make sure it's safe in a q a session the tesla team was asked if emotion and companionship is on the road map for teslabot musk answered with i'm sure people will think of some very creative uses the team was also asked about how important it is to maintain a humanoid form with hands that have five fingers musk explained that they'll start with five fingers for version one and see if it works the bot needs to be able to do things like work with tools or carry a bag there was also a question about the economics of the tesla bot if the bot is designed to take on boring repetitive and dangerous tasks which can be low paying for humans how will tesla build a robot to operate in that space musk's response was well i guess you'll just have to see if you want to help develop teslabot check out tesla.com ai a job description reads develop the next generation of automation including a general purpose bipedal humanoid robot capable of performing tasks that are unsafe repetitive or boring so this is weird right back in 2017 musk was a part of a group who wrote a letter to the un warning of the danger of lethal autonomous weapons also this teslabot would be using ai to handle tasks it was not programmed for right in a 2017 meeting of the national governors association musk said quote i have access to the very most cutting edge ai and i think people should be really concerned about it he also said quote ai is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization so here's what he had to say about ai now but what what we're trying to do here at tesla is make useful ai that people love and and is unequivocally good that's our you know try to aim for that well this is certainly an interesting reality if you would like to be less terrified by a robot check out this one that helps remove trash from bodies of water i'm curious what boring repetitive or dangerous activity would you have the tesla bot take on let me know in the comments i'm maya zakhtar and i'll see you online this is one of the strangest stories i think i've reported in a long time\n"