Where are all the robots?

The race to General Purpose Robots heats up in 2024.

Hey Everyone,

I’ve been trying to gauge how far along Tesla’s Optimus bot is in 2024, and it’s getting a bit difficult.

“Many startups like Sanctuary, Apptronik, 1X, Fourier, Unitree, Figure are all catching up fast on dexterous manipulation hardware. Some people said that Atlas from Boston Dynamics is light years ahead - well, yes and no. Yes on locomotion & acrobatics, no on hand dexterity.” - Jim Fan, Nvidia.

Read: Who will Mass Produce hGPRs first?

Who will Mass Produce Humanoid General Purpose Robots First?

By

Conrad Gray

of

Humanity Redefined

The race to General Purpose Robots should also include Chinese players which we know less about. Judging by how well China has produced EV manufacturing companies, they are going to be as good as the U.S., if not better at this by 2030. This is not widely admitted in the U.S. Instead when we talk about GPRs, we mostly talk about these American based companies.

In an ambitious blueprint document published in November, 2023, the China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said the robots would "reshape the world."

Recently Elon Musk has been denying taking drugs and making some rather odd claims. While OpenAI removes its ban on military use, things are going to get weird. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is angling for 25% of voting control over Tesla. He currently owns about 13% of the company’s stock.

“I am uncomfortable growing Tesla to be a leader in AI & robotics without having ~25% voting control,” Musk wrote in a post on January 15th, 2024.

Tesla

There was recently a viral video that was clearly staged, of a Tesla Optimus folding laundry.

See the Tweet of Elon Musk. In a rare burst of honesty, Musk followed up saying the action did not happen "autonomously." 

Some might say Laundry is (arguably) one of the most monotonous, boring, and repetitive tasks that we have to perform.

Don’t mind the robots hanging from the Factory ceilings. The Hivemind has not been born yet.

When Optimus, also known as Tesla Bot, was first announced, it seemed to be a half-baked idea from CEO Elon Musk with a dancer disguised as a robot for visual aid. While a lot has changed since then, Optimus has a long ways to go before we can take it seriously as a category leader. Indeed if that day ever arrives.

Disclaimer, Elon Musk is famous for claiming that things are going to happen in a time frame that makes absolutely no sense choked with over promises (that legally may be construed as deceptive or fraudulent). This means it’s very hard to tell if Tesla is even competitive with the pure-play startups in this area.

Instead of $55 a year, this is $36 a year. This is a time limited offer.