SKYNET SMILES, MUTTERS, “FASTER, PLEASE:” Here’s when Elon Musk’s walking, talking Optimus robots could come to your house, experts say.
Elon Musk claimed this week that Tesla’s humanoid robots will be “the biggest product ever of any kind” — sparking a lively debate over when and whether he’ll manage to put a robot in every house.
The walking, talking Optimus robots stole the show during a Thursday night event in Los Angeles to reveal the company’s “Cybercar,” a self-driving taxi.
The nearly 6-foot-tall robots danced onstage to techno music, served up fruity cocktails and played rock, paper, scissors.
Musk said the bots can “basically do anything you want” – like mowing your lawn, cleaning the kitchen after dinner, babysitting your kids or just being a friend — and will cost less than a car, between $20,000 to $30,000 in the long term.
Musk was quiet about the timing on Thursday, but earlier this year he said Tesla may be able to sell the humanoid robots by the end of 2025.
Nevertheless, experts disagree over whether Musk will be able to overcome many of the bots’ kinks in just a few years.
Dev Nag, CEO of QueryPal, a support automation company that uses artificial intelligence, said it will likely be five or more years before consumers see Optimus bots in their homes.
“The robot still faces challenges in areas like walking steadily in uneven terrain, lasting all day on a single battery charge, and safely navigating around people and pets – a thornier problem than it might seem,” Nag told The Post.
“While Musk is known for his ambitious timelines, most experts believe Optimus will first prove itself in factories and warehouses before it’s ready for household use,” he said.
That’s despite dazzling capabilities the Optimus bots displayed on Thursday night.
“How’s everybody doing?” a bartending bot wearing a cowboy hat and apron called out to guests, with a hint of a Texas drawl.
When one customer asked for a watermelon-flavored drink, the cow-bot double-checked the order: “A watermelon? ’Course you can!”
I don’t think it’s going to ask for “your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle”…for now at least: