Tesla Optimus bots actually controlled by humans during ‘We, Robot’ event
Turns out that Tesla’s Optimus robots aren’t truly autonomous after all, as they were being controlled by humans the whole time during the ‘We, Robot’ event.
Screenshot from Robert Scoble on X
Turns out that Tesla’s Optimus robots aren’t truly autonomous after all, as they were being controlled by humans the whole time during the ‘We, Robot’ event.
Optimus was a focal point of the ‘We, Robot’ event, which showcased Elon Musk’s new Cybercab and Robovan.
Attendees took literally thousands of videos of Optimus performing, working, and partying at the event on October 10th, 2024, and uploaded them to social media.
Optimus was shown playing rock paper scissors with guests, pouring drinks, and talking to some Tesla super fans. Many people who attended the event were blown away by Optimus’ advancements.
However, this feeling may have been too good to be true, as some attendees confirmed that the seemingly hundreds of Optimus bots used at the event were teleoperated by humans.
Human-powered Optimus, confirmed?
YouTuber Marques Brownlee said that he was playing charades with Optimus last night and that this was “the single greatest robotics and large language model demonstration the world has ever seen, or it’s mostly remote operated by a human. No in-between.”
Playing charades with the Tesla Optimus robot last night. This is either the single greatest robotics and LLM demo the world has ever seen, or it's MOSTLY remote operated by a human. No in between. pic.twitter.com/vCqzk8DDdO
undefined Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) October 12, 2024
A Tesla holder with over 112,000 followers on X, commended the robot's fluidity of movement, and even though they were teleoperated, the bots were so natural and responsive, Ray said in a post on X.
I saw quite a few Optimus robots at We Robot. Got to say this one amazed me most as its body movements (though tele-operated) were so natural, responsive and fluid like a human being. Doesn’t seem mechanical. pic.twitter.com/S2eusPEwb5
undefined Ray (@ray4tesla) October 15, 2024
Robert Scoble, a former Microsoft strategist, attended the event and confirmed what everyone was thinking: Optimus isn’t autonomous, not yet.
First spotted by The Verge, in a post to his 515,000 followers on X, Scoble said that the AI bartender wasn’t “wholly AI…a human is remote assisting.”
Optimus make me a drink, please.
undefined Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer) October 11, 2024
This is not wholly AI. A human is remote assisting.
Which means AI day next year where we will see how fast Optimus is learning. pic.twitter.com/CE2bEA2uQD
Scoble continued by saying that while Optimus was walking, not interacting with guests or communicating, it was being powered by AI.
AI walking from @tesla. pic.twitter.com/hqzn5WBiOv
undefined Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer) October 11, 2024
However, when Optimus was talking with attendees it was being remotely controlled by human technicians.
In another post, Scoble said that he spoke to an engineer while at the ‘We, Robot’ event who corroborated theories that Optimus relied on human intervention to talk and move. However, Optimus was able to walk on its own using AI.
I talked with an engineer.
undefined Robert Scoble (@Scobleizer) October 11, 2024
When it walked that is AI running Optimus.
It is real impressive they brought so many out in crowds at @tesla’s event. https://t.co/CtmCKPrL4T
The Verge spotted another post on Threads in which one of the Optimus bartenders acknowledges that he is operating the bot from afar.
'We, Robot' event
The ‘We, Robot’ event featured various new and coveted products including the Cybercab and the Robovan, introduced by creator Elon Musk.
Alongside the Cybercab and Robovan, an army of Optimus robots marched out and on display for attendees to see.
The company has already started making Optimus robots, which are expected to be used in low production for internal use at Tesla by 2025.
According to the billionaire businessman, Tesla has made significant progress in developing the Optimus robot and said everyone could have their own R2D2 C-3PO in the future, referring to robot characters from Star Wars movies.
In the long term, Musk expects Optimus to cost around $20,000-$30,000