Elon Musk reveals plans to launch ‘Tesla Bot’ humanoid ROBOT in 2022, designed for dangerous, repetitive, or boring work that people don’t like to do

• The Tesla CEO announced the project during a livestreamed event yesterday
• Tesla Bot will stand at around five feet, eight inches tall — like the average human
• It will be able to handle jobs from collecting groceries to bolting cars together
• However, some experts have expressed scepticism it will be ready for next year 

Tesla may launch a humanoid robot next year, designed to handle dangerous, repetitive or boring work people don’t like to do, CEO Elon Musk has announced.

The entrepreneur made the revelation during Tesla’s AI Day event yesterday, which was livestreamed from the firm’s Palo Alto, California-based headquarters.

Mr Musk said that the robot would stand at around five feet, eight inches tall and could handle jobs from picking up groceries to bolting together cars with a wrench. 

The automaton, he added, will address labour shortages and have ‘profound implications for the economy.’

While it is unclear how much the ‘Tesla Bot’ will ultimately retail for, Mr Musk said that it would be important not to make the machine ‘super-expensive’.

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Tesla may launch a humanoid robot next year, designed to handle dangerous, repetitive or boring work people don’t like to do, CEO Elon Musk has announced

Mr Musk (pictured) made the revelation during Tesla’s AI Day event yesterday, which was livestreamed from the firm’s Palo Alto, California-based headquarters

TESLA BOT SPECS 

Height: 5′ 8″

Weight: 125 lbs

Speed: 5 miles per hour 

Carry capacity: 45 lbs

Deadlift: 150 lbs 

Arm extend lift: 10 lbs 

The Tesla Bot will also be equipped with a full self-driving computer and cameras, 30 electromagnetic actuators and a display in its face.

The AI Day event came amid growing concerns over the safety and capability of Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ advanced driver assistant system, which is powered by a combination of in-car cameras and computers.

While Mr Musk did not comment directly on the recent scrutiny being given to the safety of Tesla’s technology, he did express confidence that the firm would achieve full self-driving with higher safety levels than human motorists.

Earlier this week, US safety regulators opened an investigation into Tesla’s driver assistant system after a spate of accidents in which Tesla cars crashed into police cars and a stationary fire truck while on autopilot.

Two US senators — Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Edward Markey of Massachusetts — have also called on the Federal Trade Commission to launch a probe into the veracity of Tesla’s claims around its ‘Full Self-Driving’ system.

At the AI day event, Tesla also unveiled new chips it designed for integration into its high-speed supercomputer — Dojo — which will help develop its automated driving system by training AI models.

Dojo, Mr Musk said, will be operational next year. 

The CEO also revealed that Tesla will be introducing new hardware for the self-driving computer in its Cybertruck electric pick-up truck in ‘about a year or so.’

This follows the announcement in July that the firm will be pushing back the commercial launch of the Cybertruck from this year — but Tesla has not made it clear when it expects the futuristically-styled vehicle to hit the market.

Mr Musk said that the robot would stand at around five feet, eight inches tall and could handle jobs from picking up groceries to bolting together cars with a wrench

The automaton, Mr Musk added, will address labour shortages and have ‘profound implications for the economy’

Mr Musk has form for touting upcoming technological advances at showpiece events only to later scale down his plans, leading some on Thursday to question whether he would be able to realise his ambition for the Tesla Bot.

‘Is the ‘Tesla Bot’ the next dream shot to pump up the hype machine?’ mused electrical and computer engineer Raj Rajkumar of the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

‘I can safely say that it will be much longer than 10 years before a humanoid bot from any company on the planet can go to the store and get groceries for you.’

WILL YOUR JOB BE TAKEN BY A ROBOT? PHYSICAL JOBS ARE AT THE GREATEST RISK

Physical jobs in predictable environments, including machine-operators and fast-food workers, are the most likely to be replaced by robots.

Management consultancy firm McKinsey, based in New York, focused on the amount of jobs that would be lost to automation, and what professions were most at risk.

The report said collecting and processing data are two other categories of activities that increasingly can be done better and faster with machines. 

This could displace large amounts of labour – for instance, in mortgages, paralegal work, accounting, and back-office transaction processing.

Conversely, jobs in unpredictable environments are least are risk.

The report added: ‘Occupations such as gardeners, plumbers, or providers of child- and eldercare – will also generally see less automation by 2030, because they are technically difficult to automate and often command relatively lower wages, which makes automation a less attractive business proposition.’

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