As if electric vehicles, space exploration, and social media platforms weren’t enough for the headline-grabbing billionaire, Elon Musk tweeted Thursday that Tesla’s prototype for a human-like robot, called Optimus, could be functioning within the next few months and that the company plans to push back its annual “AI Day” to line up with the announcement.
The tweet is just the latest bold claim on the topic of robotics from Musk, who has been talking up Optimus for months, and has even said it will ultimately be “worth more than the car business.” According to Tesla, Optimus can walk on two feet, deadlift 150 pounds, and has the same artificial intelligence system that is currently used in the company’s electric vehicles.
It all sounds like a science fiction fan’s dream (or nightmare) come true, but Musk isn’t the only one betting on a bright future for robotics. In dollars, sales of robots to companies increased a record 43 percent in the first quarter of 2022, according to the Association for Advancing Automation. The number of robots sold also jumped a record 28 percent year-over-year.
What explains the recent rage for robots? Many are blaming the ongoing labor shortage, which has left 11.4 million open positions in the U.S. as of April, according to the latest federal data.
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