It sure seems like the Optimus robots at Tesla's event were under human control
Electrek
Tesla "We, Robot" event, Warner Bros. studio lot, Hollywood
“One of the things we wanted to show tonight was that Optimus is not a canned video, it's not walled-off. The Optimus robots will walk among you. Please be nice to the Optimus robots.”
Elon Musk10 October 2024- What you'll lose0/5
Nothing taken.
- Condescension2/5
'Please be nice to the Optimus robots.'
- Tone-deafness2/5
Showbiz on a Hollywood lot.
- Doom0/5
None.
- Hypocrisy4/5
'Not a canned video'; some of the robots were operated remotely by people.
Full time8 pitchforksof a possible 25
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The occasion
Tesla "We, Robot" event, Warner Bros. studio lot, Hollywood, 10 October 2024.
Context
At the Cybercab unveil, Musk introduced Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots, which then served drinks and mingled with guests. Fortune also quotes him as saying 'This will be the biggest product ever, of any kind'. Within days Bloomberg and others reported that some of the robots' abilities had been operated remotely by people, and one robot told a guest 'Today I'm assisted by a human'. Only Electrek prints the long quote word for word; Fortune quotes 'The Optimus robots will walk among you. Please be nice'.
Crowd reaction
Widespread criticism
Fortune wrote that 'Musk gave no indication on Thursday that the robots were operating by any other force than the AI with which they were trained' and quoted Lux Capital's Josh Wolfe: 'totally dishonest to demo these as autonomous robots—call it the parlor trick it is'. Electrek's headline said it 'sure seems like' the robots were under human control, and SCMP said the human input 'raises questions over the capabilities and market readiness of the bot'.
- Electrek: It sure seems like the Optimus robots at Tesla's event were under human control
- Fortune: Elon Musk's Optimus bot at robotaxi unveil was smoke and mirrors
- Entrepreneur: 'Not Yet Fully Autonomous': Tesla's Optimus Robots Stole the Show — But Were They Actually Controlled By Humans?
- South China Morning Post: Tesla Optimus robots at showcase were remotely controlled by humans
- Interesting Engineering: Tesla’s Optimus robots remotely supported by humans at ‘We, Robot’
- Where the exact words are printed