Elon Musk's Optimus bot stole the show at Tesla's Robotaxi unveiling—but the AI ​​was all smoke and mirrors

Elon Musk's humanoid robot charmed its way safely through a half-dozen or so onlookers on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Hollywood, completely untethered.

Just two years ago, Droid didn't even make it onto its own stage. But the latest iteration is talking to guests, playing rock-paper-scissors or pouring drinks from a tap for the thirsty – before coolly flashing a peace sign with a metal hand.

“This will be the biggest product — of any kind,” Musk predicted on stage that night.

Instead of relying on canned videos of the machine working inside the walls of his Tesla facility, attendees wanted to see the new and improved version of the robot for the first time.

“Optimus robots will walk among you, please be good,” Musk added.

Not the first controversy for Optimus

Fans at the event were duly impressed by the CyberCab and the larger RoboVan — which has yet to be announced — as autonomous vehicles have been shown before. Waymo even operates them commercially in select cities.

By comparison, nothing feels more futuristic than interacting with a creature known only from science fiction movies and books.

“Crazy, I'm talking to a robot,” said John Stringer, the Silicon Valley founder of Tesla owners.

It was a stunning display of technological advancements that took attendees into the future, if it weren't for one thing: the machines don't actually exhibit any true artificial intelligence.

They were voiced and operated by humans wearing special suits that translated their movements into droids.

“Today I'm assisted by a human, I'm not fully autonomous yet,” an Optimus operator admitted in a video shot by a guest who asked.

For many, it's reminiscent of another controversy, when Musk shared footage of Optimus folding a shirt in January. Keen observers quickly pointed to its operator's hand, which failed to make the cut.

'Call it a parlor trick'

Tesla is training its robots with the help of people using a special feedback suite, but Musk gave no indication Thursday that the robots are being powered by anything other than the AI ​​they were trained with.

He certainly didn't mention that those in the crowd were basically metal marionettes.

“Low latency remote control is totally worth celebrating,” Lux Capital co-founder Josh Wolff posted, “but demoing it as an autonomous robot is completely dishonest—call it a parlor trick.”

Neither Tesla nor Elon Musk have responded fate Ask them to explain their reasons.

Optimus isn't just any prototype. Musk believes it will be the most important product in Tesla's history. In June, he predicted it would one day sell for less than $20,000, cost half as much to make, and sell 100 million units per year.

Musk's $25 trillion business

As a result, he has gone on record saying that annual revenue from Optimus could be $1 trillion. And if you add a multiple, he estimates conservatively, the business alone should be worth $25 trillion.

Omar Kazi, a veteran Tesla influencer with ties to Musk who acts as an unofficial brand ambassador, readily admits humans are moving the robot like puppets, but he argued the prototype's mechanics are still a major achievement, even if it lacks AI. .

“If you're not impressed by the tele-operated Optimus,” he wrote, “go try and build your own robot and try and walk through a crowd event without hitting anyone.”

But others, including Tesla content creator Jeremy Judkins, are frustrated by the lack of transparency. “I wish Tesla was more open and honest in this event, because they don't, no—no—indicates that the robots were controlled by humans,” he said.