Elon Musk Unveils Tesla’s Optimus Gen 2

As the Chief Executive Officer of Tesla and the Executive Chair of X (formerly known as Twitter), Elon Musk has recently disclosed a new prototype of Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus. This new version of Optimus is both lighter and faster than its predecessors.

On December 13, Musk uploaded a video display of Optimus Gen 2 on his X account and shared it with the public. According to the video, the new robot is 22 pounds lighter than Optimus Gen 1, and the architecture of its feet is similar to that of human anatomy.

This allows the machine to have better balance and full-body control. For the sake of demonstration, Optimus Gen 2 performs a few squats in the video. The machine’s fingers are equipped with touch sense, allowing it to operate delicate objects, as demonstrated by its ability to pick up and put down an egg. Tesla’s first Optimus prototype was introduced to the public in 2022.

In its original form, the robot could hardly move forward, and its internal components were plain to see. A different variant required assistance from the crew in order to maintain its upright position.

Musk produced a video in the spring of 2023 that showed the next generation of Tesla-made bots roaming around with a reasonable amount of freedom, grabbing goods from one container, and placing them in another container.

As a result of Musk’s belief that artificial intelligence (AI) may one day be “smarter than all humans at everything,” he has made many calls for increased regulatory supervision of AI.

In December, the businessperson asserted that the copyright cases concerning artificial intelligence would become meaningless if a “digital god” were to exist.

In the past, Musk made the prediction that artificial general intelligence would be available by the year 2030. However, many industry professionals contested this estimate, feeling that it was unduly optimistic.