Reports: Tesla’s prototype Optimus robots were controlled by humans

Don’t ask me, I’m just a robot

Perhaps the strongest indication that human assistance was in play at the event was the Optimus units' ability to carry on quick, extemporaneous conversations with human attendees. While AI models have shown rapid advances in naturalistic vocal communications recently, the smoothness and intonation of the Optimus conversations—and their ability to make out questions among a noisy crowd of humans—strongly suggested a human helping behind the scenes.

When Scoble confronted one Optimus robot directly about their autonomy (or lack thereof), the human operator played coy. "I can't disclose just how much [is controlled by AI]," the unit said in a video posted by Scoble. "That's something you'll have to find out later."

4. Bartender Optimus confirming he's remote controlled pic.twitter.com/hRAPtutqcd

— Min Choi (@minchoi) October 12, 2024

Other human controllers were more forthcoming under direct questioning from partygoers, though. In one video from the event a drink-serving Optimus unit admits, "Today, I'm assisted by a human. I'm not yet fully autonomous."

Misdirection

Musk very pointedly avoided discussing the autonomy of the current Optimus prototypes during his "We, Robot" remarks. Instead, he simply pointed out that "the Optimus robots will walk among you... I mean, it’s a wild experience just to have humanoid robots, and they’re there, just in front of you."

But that introduction came after lengthy remarks in which Musk extrapolated from the "rapid progress" in Optimus prototypes to a future where affordable, fully autonomous Optimus robots would be able to do "anything you want." Given that juxtaposition, it's no wonder even some experts were willing to believe the partying prototypes on display were operating largely on their own.

"Fooled me," Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner Gene Munster admitted on social media after hearing reports of Optimus' teleoperation. That admission came just hours after Munster posted about how the event was "just the start of mega AI use cases." In reality, when it comes to fully autonomous humanoid robots, Optimus seems to still largely be approaching the starting line.