Tesla’s Optimus Bot Graduates from Dancing to Household Chores

Tesla’s humanoid Optimus robot is proving it’s more than just a mechanical performer, showcasing its evolution from dance routines to practical household tasks in a newly released video where it successfully removes rubbish from a bin. “I’m not just dancing all day, ok,” quips the robot’s social media account, demonstrating that even AI-powered machines can develop a cheeky sense of humour about their work-life balance.

This seemingly mundane task conceals a revolutionary breakthrough in robotic learning capabilities. According to Milan Kovac from Tesla’s AI division, Optimus can now learn directly by watching internet videos of humans performing everyday activities. This advancement represents a critical shift in how robots acquire new skills, enabling them to bootstrap learning from existing human demonstrations rather than depending exclusively on teleoperated training data.

Tesla’s engineering team has created a sophisticated system capable of transferring learning from human videos to their robots. Currently, this system works primarily with first-person perspectives, but plans are underway to expand capabilities to include third-person random internet videos. This methodology mirrors Tesla’s approach to Full Self-Driving technology, which blends real-world recordings with simulations. Skills acquired through this innovative learning process can be activated via natural language commands—either voice or text—and executed by a single neural network capable of handling multiple tasks simultaneously. As Optimus continues to master more household responsibilities, the boundary between science fiction and reality becomes increasingly indistinct—though most homeowners might wish their robotic assistant would tackle more challenging domestic duties than simply taking out the rubbish.