KEY POINTS

  • Tesla launched the Tesla bot in August 2021
  • Now it showed the functioning prototype of Optimus or Tesla bot
  • The Tesla bot could become available in "three to five years"

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the moving, functioning version of the Tesla bot (Optimus) at this year's Tesla AI Day 2022. The tech billionaire also confirmed the "Catgirl" version of the humanoid AI and shared its photo.

Tesla AI Day 2022 went live a few hours ago, with the American electric vehicle maker finally revealing the highly anticipated Tesla bot. The team showed two versions of the Tesla bot–the first one, the skeletal version and the other, as Musk described, is the kind that is "close to what will go into production."

The skeletal version shows autonomy. It can walk slowly, wave and even do the "raise the roof" move. Later on Twitter, Musk confirmed the catgirl version of the humanoid AI, noting, "Naturally, there will be a catgirl version of our Optimus robot.

Elon Musk says an Optimus humanoid robot that Tesla is developing could be priced at less than $20,000 and wind up doing most of the work while people reap the benefits.
AFP

And in a follow-up tweet, the Tesla CEO shared an image of what seems to be a "catgirl" confronting another robot. So what can the Tesla bot do?

"Optimus is going to be incredible in like five years, ten years ... mind-blowing," the CEO advertised. He added that the Tesla bot would have "conversational capabilities" in the future.

But, for those who are afraid of the possibility of a humanoid AI taking over humanity, Musk said, "we always have to be careful about 'don't go down the terminator path, adding, "we do want Optimus to be safe."

During the Q&A portion of the showcase, the Tesla CEO said, "we want Optimus to be over time, like an 'android' you see in Sci-Fi movies." He added, "as AI, in general, improves, we can add that [friendly features] to the robot, and it should be able to do simple or high-level instructions."

The Tesla CEO also shared the timeline of the Tesla bot, offering a release window to those interested in having the humanoid AI. "I think it's not that far away. When can people receive one," noting that it could be in "three to five years" that consumers "could probably receive an Optimus."

Interestingly, the tech billionaire shared that the mass rollout of the Tesla bot would "transform civilization" and pave the way to "a future of abundance, a future of no poverty," adding "it really is a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it."

Optimus was first launched during Tesla AI Day 2021 in August. The humanoid AI is expected to sell at an initial price of less than $20,000.

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