Tesla’s Humanoid Robot “Optimus” Makes its Beijing Debut at the World Robot Conference

The 2024 World Robot Conference (WRC 2024), being held in Beijing from August 21 to 25, saw Tesla presenting its humanoid robot, Optimus, and the off-road vehicle, Cybertruck, for the first time in Beijing.

Tesla, while known as an electric vehicle manufacturer, also develops its own AI software and hardware. The company’s software is used in various sectors, including autonomous driving and AI, which support its business operations such as electric vehicles and energy storage. Tesla’s experience in autonomous vehicle technology is being applied to the training of its robots.

Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, is designed with 28 active joints in its body and 11 degrees of freedom in its hands. The company is aiming to reduce the production costs, which currently stand at several hundred thousand dollars, to a significantly lower figure.

Tesla has announced plans to start small-scale production of humanoid robots in the coming year. The company expects to deploy over a thousand of these robots in its factories to assist human workers. These robots are designed to operate autonomously to a certain extent, capable of responding to commands and performing complex tasks.

Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, has suggested that these robots could potentially learn new skills by observing videos. As robot intelligence technology advances, robots could take on roles such as teaching children, caring for family members, and becoming companions for humans. The future may see a high ratio of humanoid robots to humans, possibly even reaching 2 to 1. This suggests a future with potentially billions of humanoid robots. Tesla’s goal is to produce 100 million robots annually. The cost of each robot is aimed to be around $10,000, with a projected selling price of $20,000.

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