Tesla deploys two Optimus robots to work in its factory

Tesla has revealed it has two Optimus bots working autonomously on its factory floor. 

In a recent post on X, the official Tesla shared a – lengthy – list of what it had achieved under Elon Musk’s leadership since 2018. 

The list ran year-by-year, noting important milestones for the company, such as the unveiling of the Cybertruck in 2019; hitting record annual revenue of $53.8 billion and record annual profit of $5.5 billion in 2021; and marking one million Tesla vehicles on the road in Europe in 2023. 

READ MORE! Elon Musk shares new video of ‘Optimus’ robot strolling confidently around lab

The robots are able to ‘perform tasks autonomously’

The very final item on the list, from this year, is: “Deployed two Optimus bots performing tasks in the factory autonomously.”

Although no details of what the Optimus bots are actually working on have been revealed, just last month Tesla shared a clip of one of the robots performing a ‘useful’ task at a Tesla factory. 

In the video, Optimus was tasked with sorting out battery cells and could also be seen taking a stroll around the office, while human workers looked on. 

According to Tesla, the Optimus robot uses an FSD computer to run an end-to-end neural network trained to sort the battery cells.

The computer uses only 2D cameras, hand tactile, and force sensor data to generate the necessary joint movements for the task.

Tesla has previously shared footage of the humanoid robot performing tasks like squatting, dancing, and boiling an egg. 

However, not everyone who saw the recent clip was wowed by the bots, with some commenting on how slowly the robot moved. I think we’ve all worked with people like that, right? 

Optimus could go on sale next year

In April, Musk told investors that Optimus would be able to perform factory roles by the end of this year and could go on sale as early as 2025. 

He’s previously suggested that the bots could go on to become a bigger seller for Tesla than its cars. 

“I think Tesla is best positioned of any humanoid robot maker to be able to reach volume production with efficient inference on the robot itself,” he shared. 

Musk added:  “Optimus stuff is extremely underrated.”

Tesla isn’t the only player in the humanoid robot game – Nvidia has also unveiled fully humanoid robots set to rival Tesla’s Optimus robot.

Then there’s OpenAI which has joined hands with Microsoft, Nvidia, and Jeff Bezos to develop human-like robots.