If you were fascinated by Boston Dynamics' agile dog robots when they made their debut, you're probably going to want to get a look at what Tesla (TSLA) -) has in store in the robotics department.
In a new post on X via its Tesla Optimus account, the company posted a video of its Gen 2 Optimus robot captioned. "There's a new bot in town. Check this out (until the very end)!"
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The video shows the Gen 2 robot going through a series of impressively human-like motions, including examining its newly faster 11-DoF hands, showing off its new improved balance by doing squats, and showing off tactile sensing by handling an egg with its forefinger and thumb.
More specifically, the new advancements are a 2-DoF actuated neck, actuators-integrated electronics and harnessing, a 30% walk speed boost, foot force and torque sensing, articulated toe sections, human foot geometry, and a 10kg total weight reduction overall.
There’s a new bot in town 🤖
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) December 13, 2023
Check this out (until the very end)!https://t.co/duFdhwNe3K pic.twitter.com/8pbhwW0WNc
Originally announced in 2021 at Tesla's Artificial Intelligence Day event, the robot is considered by some to be just another one of CEO Elon Musk's fanciful ideas. But Musk himself has said that he believes the Optimus business could, eventually, outweigh the worth of both Tesla's car business on the whole as well as full self-driving.
@elonmusk during Tesla’s Q1 22’ Earnings Call:
— Nic Cruz Patane (@niccruzpatane) December 13, 2023
"I was surprised that people do not realize the magnitude of the Optimus robot program," Musk said Wednesday evening. "Those who are insightful or who listen carefully will understand that Optimus ultimately will be worth more than…
Optimus has drawn skepticism from many who pointed out it could not do complex tasks back when the first version was shown in 2021. The Gen 2 edition has clearly solved that problem.
Tesla's AI team is actively looking for people to help develop the bot in Palo Alto, CA, with a wide range of positions from internships all the way up to specialist engineers. And with the pay range topping out at $360,000, it's not a bad deal if you've always wanted to build your own robot.
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