Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that his company will be prioritizing the development of a humanoid robot over vehicles such as the Cybertruck and Roadster. Musk has called the development of the robot the "most important product development we're doing this year."

Musk believes that the robot “has the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business over time.” The robot is a part of a project called Optimus, and the Tesla Bot will use the same artificial intelligence systems that power Tesla’s vehicles.

The robot will be 5-foot-8 and weigh 125 pounds, travel at 5 mph and be designed to perform dangerous, repetitive or physical tasks that can only be done by humans. Musk said Tesla plans to have a prototype this year and the robot will be designed to be friendly.

Musk says his robot has the potential to revolutionize the economy.

“The foundation of the economy is labor,” he said. “Capital equipment is distilled labor. So what happens if you don’t actually have a labor shortage? I’m not sure what an economy even means at that point. That’s what Optimus is about, so [it’s] very important.”

Many people are skeptical of Musk’s plans to create a humanoid robot that runs on artificial general intelligence. Accel Robotics software engineer Filip Piekniewski posted on Twitter: “Anyone who thinks Tesla is actually building a humanoid robot is living in an alternate reality. Mars bases is more likely than the bot."

Alan Winfield, a professor at the University of West England, also voiced his skepticism.

"The idea that you can crack AGI because you have created a driverless vehicle is absurd. Google and Facebook have hired some of the best AI people in the world and the idea that Musk can come in and crack the problem is hubristic in the extreme," Winfield told the BBC. “The only thing that Musk is getting right is that the path towards AGI will be through physical robots.”

RELATED STORIES
Tesla Elon musk