Tesla Inc.’s chief executive officer Elon Musk said that the company will create a human-form robot that can carry out repetitive tasks, with a model likely to be ready in 2022, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Friday.
The world’s most valuable car maker would use the same or similar technology that it has used to create its vehicles, Musk said Thursday at an event in Palo Alto, California, according to the WSJ. The new Tesla Bot will be about 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing 125 pounds, and able to lift 150 pounds, according to the WSJ. Musk reportedly said it’s “intended to be friendly of course and navigate through a world built for humans” and that humans would be able to outrun it.
Tesla and Elon Musk announced tonight that they are working on a Tesla Bot.
Many fail to realize the car company is really a technology business. pic.twitter.com/z59RWUTYBi
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) August 20, 2021
“Tesla is much more than an electric-car company,” Musk said, adding that these robots have the potential to alleviate labor shortages, according to the WSJ. (RELATED: ‘Give My Regards To Your Puppet Master’: Elon Musk Flames WaPo For Tesla Story)
“In the future, physical work will be a choice,” Musk said. He also said that in the long-term, this type of robot can make it necessary for the government to provide a universal basic income or stipend, the WSJ reported.
Musk is currently facing scrutiny regarding the electric vehicle maker’s advanced driver-assisted features. The Department of Transportation opened an investigation into Tesla’s autopilot system because of its technology that potentially caused 11 crashes since 2018. The crashes resulted in a minimum of 17 injuries and one death, CNBC reported.