Humanoids and self-driving cars: Elon Musk unveils vision of autonomous future

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled his vision for “a fun, exciting future” at the ‘We Robots’ event in California on Thursday this week.

The South African billionaire promised an “age of abundance” filled with self-driving cars, humanoid robots, and transformed urban landscapes.

His ambitious plans, which he claims will materialise within a few years, have raised both excitement and skepticism among observers.

Elon Musk: Self-driving cars the future of transportation

Musk began his presentation by arriving in a “Cyber Cab”.

The Cyber Cab a is a fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals.

Apart from the cyber cab, which was the show’s designated star, 50 driverless cars, including Model Y vehicles and Cyber Cabs, were present at the event for attendees to experience.

The Tesla CEO highlighted several advantages of autonomous vehicles. Among those were saving time, “especially in congested cities like Los Angeles”.

Benefits of autonomous cars according to Musk

Musk also said autonomous vehicles could be used up to 10 times more frequently than traditional cars, potentially reducing the cost of transportation.

“Your average passenger car is only used about 10 hours a week out of 168 hours so the vast majority of the time cars are just doing nothing but if they’re autonomous they could be used I don’t know five times more maybe maybe 10 times more,” said Musk.

Musk claimed that autonomous cars could become 10 times safer than human-driven vehicles.

He also highlighted urban transformation.

“Parking lots could be converted into parks, creating more green spaces in cities.”

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Timeline and expansion

Musk announced plans to start fully autonomous, unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) in Texas and California next year, with the Cyber Cab expected to enter production by 2026.

He also mentioned the development of the ‘Roven’, a larger autonomous vehicle capable of transporting up to 20 people or goods.

“The Roven is what’s going to solve for high density so if you if you want to take a sports team somewhere or you’re looking to really get the cost of travel down to I don’t know 51 cents a mile then you can use the Roven, some people call it the Roba van.”

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Optimus: The humanoid robot

Musk showcased the progress of Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, from its initial concept to its current state.

He promised that Optimus would continue to improve rapidly.

According to Musk, Optimus was developed using the same batteries, power electronics, advanced motors gearboxes, software and AI inference computers used in the making of Tesla cars.

Optimus was designed to perform a wide range of tasks, from babysitting and dog-walking to teaching and serving drinks.

During the event the humanoid prototypes interacted with the crowd, demonstrating their abilities by serving drinks, talking to guests, and fetching packages.

Playing charades with the Tesla Optimus robot last night. This is either the single greatest robotics and LLM demo the world has ever seen, or it's MOSTLY remote operated by a human. No in between. pic.twitter.com/vCqzk8DDdO

— Marques Brownlee (@MKBHD) October 12, 2024

Musk predicted that the robot could eventually be priced as low as $20,000 (R349,085) to $30,000 (R523,738).

Musk said he envisioned a future where Optimus robots “walk among” humans, serving various functions in daily life.

Elon Musk showed off #Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus once again at the company’s We, Robot Event, claiming: “Whatever you can think of, it will do."#optimusRobot #TeslaRobotaxi #ElonMusk #AI #Tech #future pic.twitter.com/ByccrxNIvL

— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) October 11, 2024

Promise of an ‘age of abundance’

Musk concluded his presentation by painting a picture of a future where the cost of products and services would decline dramatically due to advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence.

He predicted an “age of abundance” where everyone could have access to the products and services they desire.

However, Musk also acknowledged potential risks associated with digital superintelligence, estimating an 80% probability of a positive outcome if these risks are properly addressed.

As with many of Musk’s ambitious projections, the timeline and feasibility of these advancements remain to be seen.

This future seems a millennia away for third and second-world countries.

The tech industry and the public will be watching closely to see if Tesla can deliver on these promises in the coming years.