This Friday, tech billionaire Elon Musk unveiled a new prototype of his company’s latest Tesla project: a humanoid robot known as Optimus.

Android took the stage at a Silicon Valley event and waved to the audience and raised its knees.

Although the Optimus is only a prototype, it could be sold to the public in a few years, according to Musk.

Company engineers said the robots must first go through tough testing periods at the construction sites of the Tesla car production line.

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In addition to cars and androids, Musk is known for investing in all sorts of tech-related projects: He was about to buy Twitter in a useless, highly publicized business, owned and invested in SpaceX (the space rocket company). The company that developed a flamethrower for the public.

Optimus in action

During an event focused on AI, a video was shown of Optimus performing simple tasks such as watering plants, carrying boxes and lifting metal rods.

Musk said the robots will be mass-produced, cost less than $20,000, and will be on the market for three to five years.

The Tesla boss spoke of “the future of abundance” in the future.

“This is really a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it,” he continued.

mass market

There are other companies working on humanoid robots, including Japanese auto giants Toyota and Honda.

Some built their prototypes to perform complex actions like throwing basketballs.

Other companies, such as ABB, manufacture robots that are used in automotive production lines around the world.

But Tesla’s project is the only one focused on building a mass-market robot that can also be used for factory work.

Tesla’s next-generation robot is expected to use company-designed parts such as a 2.3 kWh battery pack, microprocessor system, and limb-moving actuators.

“Terminator Road”

BBC tech correspondent Shiona McCallum said a number of investors and financial analysts have expressed doubts that Tesla will begin to switch to robot technology.

Instead, they suggest that the company stays in its original business, namely electric cars.

But Musk says he wants to solve one of AI’s toughest problems: how to build a machine that can replace a human.

The businessman, who once warned that artificial intelligence is a threat to humanity, said Tesla wanted to make sure that the transition to a society where robots do the work and people benefit is safe.

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“We always want to be careful not to go down the Terminator route,” he warned, referring to director James Cameron’s film about a world where artificial intelligence has destroyed half of humanity.

He said Tesla has built security features into its robots, including a tamper-evident stop button.