Elon Musk — in addition to a growing list of analysts and investors — views Tesla (TSLA) – Get Free Report as a tech company that happens to also be in the business of making cars, rather than a car company exploring a few other side ventures. As part of that, artificial intelligence and robotics have become a core value for Musk and Tesla, two things perhaps best exemplified by Musk’s Optimus program.
The humanoid robot got off to a rough start, initially announced in 2021 with a dancer in robot get-up as a visual aid. The Optimus demo that followed at Tesla’s AI day in 2022 wasn’t much more impressive; the prototype could walk and wave, but couldn’t do much more.
But in recent months, the project — helped along by Large Language Models (LLMs) and neural nets — has been making bigger strides.
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A September update showed the robot autonomously sorting objects and doing yoga. A December update showed the robot doing squats and handling raw eggs. In a Jan. 15 clip shared to X, Optimus folded a shirt.
Tesla envisions a world where its Optimus robots are first introduced into the company’s own manufacturing processes, before being sold to consumers essentially as robotic butlers.
Optimus can now sort objects autonomously 🤖
Its neural network is trained fully end-to-end: video in, controls out.
Come join to help develop Optimus (& improve its yoga routine 🧘)
→ https://t.co/dBhQqg1qya pic.twitter.com/1Lrh0dru2r
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) September 23, 2023
He said during a 2022 earnings call that “Optimus ultimately will be worth more than the car business and worth more than full self-driving. That’s my firm belief.”
Musk recently predicted that there will be a billion humanoid robots on the planet within the next 20 years.
Though the second-generation Optimus robot appears to be getting more advanced, it has yet to be introduced to the company’s highly automated factories.
Related: What’s stopping Tesla from achieving Level 3 self-driving
BMW’s latest deal follows Tesla’s aspirations
German automaker BMW (BMWYY) – Get Free Report, however, entered into a commercial agreement Thursday with robotics startup Figure to introduce the humanoid robots to its manufacturing process.
This represents Figure’s first commercial deal since its founding in 2022.
In the initial phase of the deal, Figure and BMW Manufacturing will work to identify initial use cases where Figure’s robots can be applied to the company’s manufacturing process. Once identified, the robots will begin deployment at BMW’s manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina and be integrated into the facility’s production processes over the next 12-24 months.
The company did not disclose the fiscal details of the arrangement.
“Single-purpose robotics have saturated the commercial market for decades, but the potential of general-purpose robotics is completely untapped,” Brett Adcock, Founder and CEO of Figure, said in a statement. “Figure’s robots will enable companies to increase productivity, reduce costs and create a safer and more consistent environment.”
The two companies will additionally in tandem explore AI, robot control, manufacturing virtualization and robot integration, according to a statement.
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Figure, an AI and robotics startup
Dr. Robert Engelhorn, President and CEO of BMW Manufacturing, said that the use of such general-purpose robotics has the potential to increase the company’s production efficiency, addressing “the growing demands of our consumers.”
“BMW Manufacturing is committed to integrating innovative technologies in our production systems to drive our future forward as an industry leader and innovator,” he said.
Today we’re unveiling our Figure 01 robot.
Watch as we demonstrate dynamic bipedal walking – a milestone the team was able to hit within 12 months of company inception.
Here are the details: pic.twitter.com/tSNVLioXpC
— Figure (@Figure_robot) October 17, 2023
Figure, which last year raised $70 million at a $400 million valuation, believes humanoid robots will transform a series of industries, from corporate labor, to elderly care, to “building new worlds on other planets.”
The company aims first to target areas with the most extreme labor shortages, including manufacturing and shipping.
“Our focus is on providing resources for jobs that humans don’t want to perform,” Adcock said in the company’s so-called master plan. “We have the potential to alter the course of history and fundamentally improve millions of lives.”
Contact Ian with AI stories via email, [email protected], or Signal 732-804-1223.
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