Humanoid robots are becoming a reality and not just for Tesla

While Elon Musk demonstrates the progress of Optimus, NIO puts artificial beings to work in the factory.

By: Francesco Barontini

Mar 9, 2024 at 7:27am ET

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Work on the Tesla Bot continues. The company, which has an X account dedicated to the humanoid robot project, recently published a post showing the progress being made on the product that Elon Musk believes will revolutionise the world.

The video shows a further improved version of the robot, capable of walking with unexpected ease in a confined environment.

Moving up a gear

The video was also filmed by Milan Kovac, the engineer in charge of the project, who pointed out that the robot's speed is the fastest ever achieved. Thanks to a series of design improvements, Tesla's Optimus moves at a speed of 0.6 metres per second, 30% faster than previously shown.

In absolute terms, this speed is 1.4 mph. This is still half the speed of a normal human being, but the designers believe that with this technology, Tesla's humanoid robot could reach 5 mph in the future.

New jobs for the Optimus

The video posted on social networks comes a few weeks after the one in which Elon Musk himself showed the latest evolution of the Optimus and highlighted the new progress made by the American company.

The robot, which at the time of its presentation was considered a mere provocation by Tesla's CEO, is instead making great strides and seems to have all the cards in its hand to one day reach the market. Elon Musk believes that it could represent a huge growth opportunity for the company he leads, and has opened 61 additional jobs to fill the team of engineers working on this initiative.

According to the Tesla CEO's wishes, the Optimus should arrive on the market as early as 2025. Nothing has been confirmed and, as with other Tesla initiatives (such as Full Self Driving), the timeframe could be longer. But sooner or later, the Optimus will go on sale on a regular basis, with a price tag of around €20,000 (approx. £17,000).

It's not just Tesla

What's interesting is that Tesla's humanoid robot is already being used on the production lines of the American carmaker and is proving capable of doing what it was created to do: replacing humans in dangerous, tedious or arduous tasks.

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But NIO has also started to use humanoid robots in its factories. This is the case with Walker S, a product of UBtech, used on the assembly line to assist flesh-and-blood workers in carrying out particularly arduous tasks.

A month ago, BMW also announced its intention to employ humanoid robots in its factories. In this case, the German manufacturer had signed an agreement with the start-up Figure.