The Truth Behind Tesla's Optimus Robots at the Cybercab Event

Tesla made the Optimus robots a central attraction during its high-profile Cybercab event last week. These robots entertained the audience by interacting with guests, serving beverages, playing games, and even dancing in a festive gazebo. Most astonishingly, they appeared to engage in conversation. However, upon closer inspection, it became clear that it was all part of an elaborate performance.

Videos from the event reveal that if Optimus were truly a fully autonomous robot capable of responding to human verbal and visual inputs in real-time, it would have been a groundbreaking development. Instead, the reality presented at the event was more theatrical than technological.

Attendee Robert Scoble shared insights he gained at the event, stating that human operators were remotely controlling the robots. He later noted that an engineer confirmed to him that the robots were using artificial intelligence to move, as reported by the outlet Electrek. Analyst Adam Jonas from Morgan Stanley also commented that the robots depended on teleoperation, meaning they were not acting independently.

Several indicators support this claim. For instance, the robots had distinctively different voices, and their responses were immediate, complete with matching hand gestures.

It appears Tesla did not intend for anyone to misinterpret the self-sufficiency of the Optimus robots. In a humorous moment captured on video, one of the robots playfully indicated to Scoble that it might be “some” controlled by AI when asked about its level of autonomy.

Another robot, or rather the person operating it, confessed to an attendee in a somewhat awkward imitation of a robotic voice that they were being assisted by a human, explicitly stating that it was not fully autonomous. The voice even stumbled over the word “autonomous.”

Elon Musk initially introduced Tesla's humanoid robot by showcasing what was very clearly a person dressed in a robot costume. This established tone continued at the event, highlighting the performative aspect of the Optimus robots' presentation. Despite this revelation, many event-goers did not seem to feel misled or disappointed. However, if anyone sought genuine insight into Tesla's progress in humanoid robotics, the Cybercab event was not the right venue to gauge that advancement.

Tesla, Robots, Event