Elon Musk Reveals 2nd Gen Tesla Optimus Bot Capable Of Boiling Eggs

Those sceptical of Elon Musk's ambitions in the robotics market might be taken aback by the rapid progression of his team's work. Initial reactions from experts in the robotics field to the original Tesla Optimus Bot noted its limited functionality. However, the unveiling of the second-generation model, the Optimus Gen 2, has demonstrated significant advancements. This humanoid robot can now do more than just walk and talk; it boasts a faster walking speed, hand movements, tactile sensing on the fingers, and more. Musk showcased a demo video of the Optimus Gen 2 on X, with the simple caption "Optimus."

The demo video starts with footage from the first iterations of the humanoid robot during its prototyping stages in 2021 and 2022. The latest version displays a wide range of capabilities, including advanced features like exercising, boiling eggs, dancing, and even performing yoga.

The video highlights these abilities, showing several humanoid robots dancing. A notable aspect of the Optimus is its use of the same technology that Tesla employs in its self-driving beta cars — an AI computer vision platform. This system uses cameras for navigation, with algorithms trained on Tesla's Dojo supercomputer for its neural network.

First unveiled at Tesla's AI Day event in 2021, Musk claimed the Tesla Optimus would be capable of performing a variety of tasks deemed unsafe, repetitive, or dull for humans. By 2022, the Tesla Optimus could execute basic tasks such as picking up objects.

"This is literally the first time the robot was operated without [a tether] onstage tonight," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, reflecting on the robot's capabilities like picking up objects and watering plants in 2022. "We didn't want it to fall on its face," he added at the time.

The Optimus is powered by a custom SoC akin to the FSD chip used in Tesla's self-driving car technology. It features full connectivity via WiFi and LTE and built-in cybersecurity. The robot operates on a 2.3 kilowatt-hour battery, claimed by Tesla to be more efficient than traditional robots like those from Boston Dynamics. Tesla asserts that the Optimus will require less frequent recharging, though this claim should be approached with caution.