(Chris Parker, Headline USA) Elon Musk has made headlines throughout 2022 after attempting to purchase Twitter and the fallout stemming from that failed deal.
But now, heās set his ambitions on a more significant goal: the tech billionaire apparently wants a legion of Tesla robots, reported Fortune.
And some of its intended uses are quite shocking. According to reports, Musk believes āthe robot could be used in homes, even becoming a ābuddyā or a ācatgirlā sex partner. So far, Tesla is flirting with the names āTesla Bot or Optimus.ā
āBasically, if you think about what weāre doing right now with cars, Tesla is arguably the worldās biggest robotics company because our cars are like semi-sentient robots on wheels,ā Musk said during last yearās announcement.
It may sound crazy, but the news has gained significant attention among mainstream media outlets. Fortune said Musk āis getting ready to unleash an army of humanoid robots.ā
According to Entrepreneur, āengineers are racing to unveil Teslaās latest big promise under a tight deadline: a dynamic, human-like robot.ā They said the robots are meant to be āāfriendlyā and help people avoid physical labor.ā
They hope to meet that deadline by Sept. 30, which is considered āAI Dayā by enthusiasts.
Still, some experts believe consumers will be slow to adopt the new technology.
āThis market is very, very challenging market because you buy this big expensive robot, but it actually cannot do much,ā Heni Ben Amor, a robotics professor at Arizona State University, told Reuters.
The New York Post also cited skepticism among investors: āTesla faces skepticism that it can show technological advances that would justify the expense of āgeneral purposeā robots in factories, homes and elsewhere, according to robotics experts.ā
āTo succeed, Tesla will need to show robots doing multiple, unscripted actions,ā said Nancy Cooke, a professor in human systems engineering at Arizona State University.
āIf he just gets the robot to walk around, or he gets the robots to dance, thatās already been done. Thatās not that impressive.ā
However, she also admitted that offering that proof could boost Teslaās fledgling stock, which is down 25% this year.