Don't Laugh Off the Tesla Bot. Elon Musk's Optimus Is the Real Deal

When watching Tesla's humanoid Optimus robot debut at AI Day 2022, it's entirely fair to be skeptical about the company's ultra-ambitious plans. The prototype robot's shuffling gait paled to the exciting parkour and flips of Boston Dynamics' Atlas, and Tesla has missed many deadlines bringing its full self-driving technology to its cars. But I was at the AI Day event, and I'm here to advise you not to dismiss Tesla's sci-fi inspired vision. The company revealed abundant evidence that it's thinking deeply about a bipedal robot and the artificial intelligence technology needed to make it useful. And much of Tesla's track record of genuine achievements in electric vehicle engineering and manufacturing apply to Optimus.