Elon Musk Unveils ‘Optimus’ AI Robot Capable of Performing Squats and Boiling Eggs

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has shared a video of the company’s new Optimus Gen 2 robot, and based on first impressions, it is quite human-like, performing functions such as squatting, cooking eggs and more.

Optimus Gen 2 is Tesla’s latest robot, and is the successor to Optimus Gen 1, which was announced in March. Compared to Bumblebee, which was announced in September 2021, on an annual basis, development seems to be progressing quickly.

For those in the know, this robot is part of Tesla’s AI and Robotics division and uses an AI-first approach. The company says that, together with inference hardware, this is the only way to make fully autonomous, bipedal robotics.

Tesla Optimus Gen 2 dances like a human, squats and cooks eggs

Yes, you read that right. A video shared by Musk shows the robot being able to perform tasks such as a full squat compared to Gen 1 thanks to better balance and full body control.

Tesla says that the artificial intelligence-powered robot gets an extra boost in walking speed, torque recognition and resembles the geometry of a human foot. In addition, the robot has lost 10 kilos in total weight compared to the previous generation.

Still in the video, it goes a step further and uses new faster, 11-DoF hands, picks up an egg and places it in a boiling device. And finally, as a surprise, two Tesla Optimus robots show off their funky dance moves. And there’s more – you see detail in the movements, fine control of fingers, arms and lower body, all moving in tandem.

This is something straight out of a science fiction movie. Imagine a future where your robot cooks you eggs and presents them to you right before you leave the office. It sounds far-fetched at the moment, but given the progress of robots like the Tesla Optimus, it seems a distinct possibility in the future.