During his “We Robot” conference at the end of last week, Elon Musk extolled the merits of his Optimus autonomous robots before the eyes of the whole world. But according to information from specialist media Electrek, the robots are not autonomous at all. If Elon Musk assured during the conference that the robots only responded to calculations by artificial intelligence, they would in reality have been directed from the dressing rooms by very human hands and brains.
In videos shared on social networks, Tesla continued to maintain the vagueness, showing the robot moving easily or even preparing and serving drinks. The robot showed itself to be very dexterous, a little too much even for robotics experts to fall for it and not believe Tesla’s tour de force on this subject.
Another clue which ensures that robots are not yet completely autonomous was given by Elon Musk himself. During a discussion on social networks, the businessman and boss of Tesla responded to a user. The latter asked him if disabled people could one day earn money by controlling an Optimus robot remotely. Musk answered in the affirmative, showing that the robot still needed human control to perform precise and complex tasks.
What are Optimus’ true abilities?
Faced with this turn of events, everyone is asking the same question, what are the real capabilities of the robot when it is left in total autonomy. Is he able to walk, talk, perform complex movements requiring coordination of his arms and legs? Is he capable of thinking complexly about a question or can he simply react to a new situation?
So many questions that Elon Musk’s little strategy left unanswered. By making us dream of the best, Musk has prevented us from knowing the truth about these robots. For now we must be patient and wait for the next Tesla conference to find out more about the future of these robots.
The rest of the conference
If you missed it, the “We Robot” conference didn’t focus exclusively on Tesla’s Optimus robots, however. Before that, Elon Musk spoke at length to present the future of his automobile brand, the Cybercab. With this new, fully autonomous vehicle, Tesla wants to conquer the taxi and VTC market but also appeal to the general public.
Presented, the car will nevertheless not be available for “several years” according to Elon Musk. A speech which unfortunately recalls that of the Cybertruck, presented with great fanfare in 2019 before finally being available in 2024, five long years later. Hopefully it won’t be necessary to wait that long before seeing the Cybercab on our roads.
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