Tesla Robot Takes A Tumble After Teleoperator Crashes Out

By Nadeem Sarwar
Optimus robot making popcorn Josiah True/Shutterstock

The robotic frenzy is at an all-time high, and one company, in particular, that has made bullish statements on a bright future is Tesla. The company's chief, Elon Musk, recently claimed that nearly "80% of Tesla's value" will come from the company's Optimus robot in the near future. Here's the odd part: Tesla is yet to commercially sell the humanoid robot in the face of rising skepticism. More importantly, the robot still hasn't reached a stage where it can handle tasks like serving drinks, let alone complex factory or domestic chores. The latest example of the apparent laggardness? An Optimus robot falling behind a table, mimicking what looks like taking off a headset in thin air.

The video shared online sparked speculation that the humanoid robot was not attending to guests autonomously at the event, but was being tele-operated remotely by a human expert behind the scenes. In industrial setups, workers are often seen controlling robots while donning a VR headset and hand-worn sensors. In fact, robots at Japanese convenience stores are now being controlled by remote workers in the Philippines. But the situation with Tesla's Optimus is rather sketchy.

Musk, on the other hand, has continued to downplay the allegations of remotely-operated Optimus robots. In a video that he shared a few weeks ago, an Optimus was seen in a sparring session with a human Kung-Fu practitioner. The movements of the robot were pretty smooth and far from clumsy. When an X formerly Twitter user asked whether the robot was fighting fully autonomously or otherwise, Musk replied that it was "not tele-operated." Put that in perspective with the movement seen in the leaked video above, and it's pretty hard to digest how a robot that seemingly does flawless Kung Fu can break down and collapse in such a suspiciously awkward manner.

Not a good picture for Tesla

Human behind an Optimus robot. Cheng Xin/Getty Images

Humanoid robot demonstrations have been pretty messy. At a glitzy event merely a few weeks ago, an ambitious Russian robot face-planted embarrassingly. In a few cases, companies have disclosed that the robotic movements were remotely controlled to a certain extent. In China's recent robot marathon, many humanoid robots failed hilariously at something as basic as a brisk walk, or run, while a few did exceedingly well. But the situation with Tesla is rather odd, particularly because the company hasn't publicly disclosed whether the Optimus robots at its events have been fully autonomous or remotely operated.

This won't be the first such flub of its kind for Tesla. Over a year ago, at the company's "We, Robot" event, Tesla reportedly pushed remotely-operated Optimus robots to serve drinks, dance, and interact with guests. The reports were pretty bad optics for the company, particularly in the wake of tall claims made by Musk on the potential of humanoid robots in all aspects of life. In China, on the other hand, companies have not only pushed robots in factories, but also already offering them at dramatically lower prices and setting Guinness World Records, while at it.

Citing a note by Morgan Stanley analysts, Business Insider reports that the Optimus robots at Tesla's event "relied on tele-ops." In a nutshell, the rock-paper-scissors games, or drinks serving chores, were all remotely operated by a human working behind the scenes. "Overall, we did not pick up on anything new/novel about Optimus that clearly showed significant progress," added the scathing note by the American banking and investments giant. Multiple experts and industry watchers have also claimed — after first-person experiences — that the Optimus units have been remotely operated at Tesla events and that it was a poor ethics situation.

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