Tesla's Goofy Optimus Robot Underwhelmingly Folds a Shirt

Silicon Valley is racing to create the first generation of “humanoid” robots, with many tech companies promising consumers that they’ll soon have their very own, live-in robo-helper to do the dishes, sweep the floor, and generally take care of all the annoying housework that you don’t want to do. However, the unfortunate truth is that, if recent events are any indicator, we shouldn’t expect a robo-butler anytime soon.

WatchMr. Tweet Fumbles Super Bowl Tweet CCShare SubtitlesOffEnglishEven worse, it turns out that Musk’s video was staged, although it’s not entirely clear how.AdvertisementAdvertisementMusk followed up his original post with a clarification about the robot’s shirt-folding capabilities: “Important note: Optimus cannot yet do this autonomously, but certainly will be able to do this fully autonomously and in an arbitrary environment (won’t require a fixed table with box that has only one shirt).” AdvertisementWhile it’s not totally clear what Musk is talking about, it really makes it sound like the robot can’t actually fold a shirt yet. Or, at the very least, it needed some human assistance to do so. Commenters on X responded to Musk’s video with a mix of admiration, bewilderment, and ridicule. Some were confused about how the video was made if the robot didn’t actually have this ability yet. One commenter quipped: “Yeah but my wife can do it while holding our baby and screaming on the phone at someone while eating lunch... can he?” AdvertisementSince the Tesla bot was announced several years back, it’s been less a topic of speculation and excitement than laughter and ridicule. Indeed, the first glimpse of the “Tesla bot” that the world got was In short: While we keep hearing that the robot uprising is imminent, all visible evidence continues to point to the contrary—at least, for the time being.

Based on reporting by gizmodo.com.