Tesla expects to hire a humanoid robot workforce to perform tasks at its car factories starting next year.

Elon Musk, in an off-the-cuff remark on X, said the electric car company will have a small number of “really useful” humanoid robots for use in its factories in 2025 (via BBC). In 2026, it will offer these robots to other companies, according to Electrek, that this is slightly later than originally anticipated.

Tesla's robot is called Optimus; it can walk around freely on two legs and has a great range of motion in its arms and hands; in a video released to X in January, Optimus could (sloppily) fold a T-shirt as well as I can. However, this was an imitation of human movement with the bot, not autonomous movement.

Bipedalism has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years (literally as far as Boston Dynamic's bot is concerned). However, Optimus still does not walk confidently. Nevertheless, it has already undergone significant improvements compared to the early prototype models exhibited last year and in 2022.

The Optimus robot will reportedly be tasked with tedious and repetitive tasks on the factory floor. Except for a special robot that shoots rocket launchers at an ever-increasing number of bad guys, as known from Destiny's Tower, all robots will effectively be in charge of sweeping floors. It could go either way.

Tesla is not the only company introducing humanoid robots, nor is it the only automaker trying to use them as a workforce.

Robotics company Figure has partnered with BMW to install its Figure 01 robot at the German automaker's plant; Figure's video shows the robot in action. The video shows the company's bot working completely autonomously, placing objects within 3 cm of where they should be. That's up there for an autonomous machine with new motorized limbs, but if my car door was off by 3 cm, I would want my money back. So the robot has learned to correct itself, thanks to technology from ChatGPT developer OpenAI.

Figure is reportedly heavily funded by Nvidia, Jeff Bezos, and OpenAI. There is a lot of money flying around in the factory bot industry. Perhaps enough to pay people many times more for doing the same job.

The automotive industry has always been big on machines, automation, and robotics to increase productivity. But what is most exciting is how these robots will be introduced into our daily lives. Like babysitting your kids, for example. Yes, your children (I don't have children). Mask thinks Optimus could be used for all kinds of things, like being a resolute physical companion or taking care of your kids when you're not home.

Do you have family members who would like to sign up as beta testers?