Elon Musk stuns Tesla AI attendees with creepy, human-like robot

San Francisco, California - Tesla CEO Elon Musk has unveiled two prototypes of a human-like robot called Optimus.

Elon Musk surprised attendees at the Tesla AI Day with the presentation of a human-like robot.
Elon Musk surprised attendees at the Tesla AI Day with the presentation of a human-like robot.  © AFP/Pool/Britta Pedersen

The entrepreneur says he is aiming to build a robot that will eventually cost "probably less than $20,000" and be designed to be replicated "millions of times over."

In doing so, he wants to enable "a future of abundance," Musk said Friday at the annual Tesla AI Day conference in California, which reports on the company's progress in artificial intelligence.

"Bumble C," one of the two prototypes, cautiously walked on stage, waving and showing a video of it bringing a package to an employee and watering plants.

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Employees also brought up a more advanced prototype that had fewer visible wires but could not yet walk on its own.

The presentation of the robot in video

Musk acknowledged that other organizations have developed more advanced robots, but "they lack a brain and don't have the intelligence to move themselves," he said. They are also very expensive.

Cover photo: Montage: AFP/Pool/Britta Pedersen, Screenshot/Twitter/Tesla

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