A world filled with human-like robots is what every kid envisioned the future to have and recently Tesla CEO Elon Musk has placed his bet on the same thought as he revealed that his company is currently working on the humanoid robot named “Optimus” which is a very significant part of Tesla’s 2022 goals.
Musk during an interview said it is the “most important product development we’re doing this year” and he told the investors that the development of this robot will help them to solve the US labour shortage as well as has the potential to become bigger than the electric automotive business that their company is currently based on.
Elon Musk has never shied from expressing his thoughts and with the unveiling of this humanoid robot, the CEO is looking to solve the problem of labour shortages in the US. During the call with investors, he said, “The foundation of the economy is labour.
So what happens if you don’t actually have a labour shortage? I’m not sure what an economy even means at that point. That’s what Optimus is about. So – very important,” He further added, the robot project “has the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business over time.”
He also revealed that the first application for the robot would likely be at Tesla, “moving parts around the factory or something like that.”
During the call, Tesla Inc. boss Elon also announced that his company won’t be able to launch any new cars during this year of 2022 as “If we were to introduce new vehicles, our total vehicle output will decrease,” Musk said. He added that its Cybertruck and Roadster, originally planned to be launched in 2022, will be delayed to “hopefully next year”. As a consequence, Tesla Inc. shares wiped out about $109 billion off its valuation in the course of a single day.
While the other important thing that Musk discussed in the call was his company’s focus on autonomous cars. He said, “I would be shocked if we do not achieve full self-driving safer than humans this year. I would be shocked,” he also added, full self-driving would become “the most important source of profitability for Tesla.”
The company currently has been testing around its latest self-driving software with more than 60,000 drivers participating in the tests but like every other self-driving technology manufacturer the California-based EV maker is also struggling with the regulations.
Critics like Jim Womack, author of “The Machine that Changed the World,” which chronicled how auto manufacturing evolved in the 20th century, during an interview with a news outlet said, “History has taught us not to bet against technology and technologists, but you can bet against timetables and the immediate impact.”
He further added that a humanoid robot seems unlikely to be a game-changer for Tesla’s ability to compete in the industry. Tesla may first use its planned robot to move parts around its factories, but that is unlikely to be a significant part of Tesla’s costs.
