We, Robot is the next big thing from Elon Musk’s Tesla. It sounds like something Isaac Asimov would write about.
by Mike Gulett –
In the past I have been a big fan of electric cars and self-driven cars. Yet, lately I have come to doubt anything that Elon Musk promotes.
The Tesla Cybertruck was many years delayed; the Tesla Roadster is still not here and full self-driving vehicles are not a reality after years of Musk’s promises.
I think that Musk promises new things just to drive up the stock price of Tesla, which is the primary source of his wealth. He squandered a large part of his fortune on Twitter, aka X, and in doing so he spent less time managing Tesla.
Tesla Cybercab
Now he is promising a self-driven Tesla taxi (the Cybercab) for less than $30k USD that does not even have a steering wheel! This Cybercab only has two seats. While there is no need for a driver both seats are for passengers, it does seem to me that a specific purpose vehicle made to be a taxicab should have more that two seats.
Tesla also introduced a self-driven van (the Robovan) to be used for transporting up to 20 people or cargo.
Tesla Robovan
According to the Wall Street Journal,
Musk has described the event, called “We, Robot”, as the company’s most significant moment since the rollout of the mass-market Model 3 sedan in 2017.
The billionaire entrepreneur is betting the company’s future on a pivot to robotics and artificial intelligence, a shift that comes as Tesla’s profitability has slipped and broader consumer interest in electric cars has cooled within the past couple years.
Musk has said such technologies could help boost Tesla’s market value to as much as $30 trillion, nearly 40 times its current worth.
On Thursday, he said Optimus robots “will be the biggest product ever of any kind” and envisioned a future where personal robots go grocery shopping and mow the lawn on behalf of their owners.
Tesla Optimus Robot
Musk plans for Tesla to also make personal robots, as mentioned above, in addition to vehicles. Notice his focus on the market value of Tesla. If Tesla’s value increase 40 times what it is today as he predicts then Musk would be the richest man in the history of the world.
The promises Musk has made have not all been kept, yet he keeps coming out with more new promises.
Next thing you know he will promise us that we all can go to Mars on a Musk owned SpaceX rocket ship, of course.
Would Isaac Asimov approve? Maybe, if the vehicles and robots followed Asimov’s Laws of Robotics [1].
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
[1] Asimov’s Laws of Robotics
The self-driving car is perhaps the first practical and useful application of personal robots that many people will own, interact with and use regularly. Will society require these robots to follow Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics?
Asimov was a writer, mainly of science fiction, and a biochemistry professor.
The laws are written in order of priority for the robot.
1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Photos compliments of Tesla.
I tell you what, I sure can see thousands of Optimus robots building cars in the dark, in the car assembly factories, and no more strikes with pay extortion. Cars might even become affordable again….
Elon Musk is a visionary genius in the same manner as Henry Ford and Thomas Edison. Nobody thought the electric car would ever go mainstream. I am not a fan of the technology, but nobody can deny his progress and success. He will continue to be a leader in whatever he sets his mind (and money) to.
He did not “squander” his money away on Twitter. He saw this opportunity as the last bastion of free speech not just for our country, but the entire world. While other social media companies and mainstream media work to take away our freedoms, Elon Musk works hand in hand with the man who hopefully will be our next president to preserve our ability to freely express our opinions and develop healthy discord with each other instead of having the governments opinion jammed down our throats.
It’s also Elon Musk who is about to rescue 3 astronauts in outer space that the federal government can’t help.
Long live Elon!
Well said Robert!
What about supplying the super hard hit south with Starlink.
Add to that the unbelievable launch of Starship and the refuel & reuse in-place booster. If you haven’t seen the stunning video search for it. It’s stunning.
SpaceX catches giant Starship booster in fifth flight test | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/spacex-launches-fifth-starship-test-eyes-novel-booster-catch-2024-10-13/
Totally agree. I spent 33 years in the tactical missile business and that “catch” was the most remarkable thing I’ve ever seen.
Robert and Bruce,
I think a person can be a “visionary genius” and a creepy weirdo who cannot be trusted at the same time.
My moment of realizing Musk was bringing something new to the table was the video shot from windshield of Tesla on a freeway where the Tesla driver is maintaining a steady speed until the Tesla starts to slow even though the car ahead has no brake lights on. You wonder–why is he slowing? Then the car ahead hits a car ahead of it but because the Tesla slowed, it is not involved. In short, the Tesla sensed an accident was about to happen before it happened.