Last Summer, before Elon Musk set his sights on buying Twitter, he told the world he intended to make humanoid robots. Called “Tesla Bot,” the creations would stand under six feet tall, weigh 125 pounds and deadlift 150 pounds. And like all predictions Musk has made in recent years, well, it’s best not to hold your breath about any of those particulars.
Still, Musk has very much insisted that the humanoid androids are, indeed, in production. And this week he actually said a prototype is well on the way. According to the New York Post, Tesla’s next AI Day may feature a working prototype of the creation the company showed off during last year’s event. Well, kind of. If you recall, the “prototype” was actually just a skinny person in a robot costume that moved jerkily and then started dancing.
Still, Musk had tweeted that things are quickly moving from robot costume to robot prototype, and in an interview he reiterated that a working prototype is very close to reality:
During an interview at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday, Musk said that the company is “tracking” toward a working prototype.
“Well, I hope that we will have an interesting prototype to show people,” he said.
“We have a very talented team at Tesla that I’m working with closely to have a prototype humanoid robot ready by the end of September.
“And I think we are tracking to that point.”
“Tracking to that point” of a working robot is certainly a far cry from having a working robot that can help build cars and walk around carrying 45 pounds like a real live boy. But it’s a bold claim, indeed, added to a list of bold claims Musk has made in recent years. Which is why many people were, to say the least, skeptical about the timeline offered here.
Is there a master list somewhere of all the stuff Musk promised at a specific date which never materialized? https://t.co/gJpxnOswoI
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) June 23, 2022
Cool, can't wait. https://t.co/9rIeltQ0YD pic.twitter.com/eEdbfxuBDH
— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) June 22, 2022
A) that's a dude in a costume
B) pic.twitter.com/05fuaNalWS— Bartleby After Dark (@DarkBartleby) June 22, 2022
Ready for what https://t.co/CkJdJHqdzn
— alicia (@nerdjpg) June 23, 2022
I guarantee this will not happen https://t.co/CFlHDwS8V9
— Thor Benson (@thor_benson) June 23, 2022
If we do get a prototype this fall, though, people are certainly expecting something a bit different than promised.
how the robot will actually look: https://t.co/c9WimbHDOW pic.twitter.com/kfGOdU829v
— phoebe (@tweefruit_) June 23, 2022
Can’t wait for it to be revealed and end up looking like this https://t.co/WWLeTr5LtP pic.twitter.com/3verxKmhNi
— NJP (@NJP_123) June 23, 2022
Can’t wait for September!
Source: https://uproxx.com/viral/elon-musk-robots-ready-by-september-reaction/