At Tesla's AI Day, Elon Musk unveiled the humanoid robot "Optimus."

The much-discussed humanoid robot "Optimus" is unveiled by Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Friday at the company's "AI Day" event.

According to the billionaire, a company based on robots would be more valuable than one based on automobiles. He wants to move past self-driving cars, which he has repeatedly promised but which have not yet materialized.

On the stage, a replica of the robot emerged and waved to the spectators. A video of the robot carrying a box, watering plants, and moving metal bars was displayed in the automaker's factory.

In Palo Alto, California, at the event, Musk stated, "Our goal is to make a useful humanoid robot as soon as possible."

"Optimus still needs a lot of work to show that it works and to improve it."

Musk claimed that modern humanoid robots "lack a brain" because they aren't intelligent enough to navigate the world on their own. He added that they are expensive and only produced in limited quantities.

On the other hand, he claimed that Optimus would be a "extremely capable robot" that would be manufactured in vast quantities for less than $20,000 and cost much less than a car.

Musk was also anticipated to discuss Tesla's eagerly anticipated technology for autonomous vehicles.

The world's most valuable automaker would be worth "basically nothing," according to the CEO in May, if it didn't have fully autonomous vehicles. Additionally, the business is dealing with more and more technological difficulties and regulatory inquiries.

Musk stated, "There will be a lot of technical detail and cool hardware demos," in a late-night tweet on Wednesday. The event, he added, was intended to find new engineers. Tesla has a mixed track record of live demonstrations.

The majority of launches are met with applause, but in 2019, Musk ordered a worker to throw a steel ball at an armored window of a brand-new electric pickup truck, and the window broke.

The robot's ability to handle situations that don't go according to plan will be put to the test in the most crucial way.

In August of last year, at Tesla's AI day, Musk discussed the company's plans for humanoid robots. In order to test the robot prototype and begin production as soon as next year, this year's AI Day was moved from August to September.As a teaser for when the robot would be unveiled to the public, Tesla posted a picture of metal robot hands forming a heart shape on social media. But it is very challenging to create hands that resemble human hands and are capable of performing a variety of tasks, according to Heni Ben Amor, a robotics professor at Arizona State University.

According to Musk, Optimus used to perform tedious or hazardous tasks like moving components around Tesla factories or tightening a bolt with a wrench. This was a reference to the strong and kind-hearted Autobot leader from the Transformers movie series.

"People can do so many things with their hands that robots are completely incapable of doing. And whether the robot is a humanoid or a robot arm, that won't change, according to Jonathan Hurst, chief technology officer at Agility Robotics, a company that creates humanoid robots.

According to Musk, robots may one day be used in homes to perform tasks like cooking, mowing the lawn, caring for the elderly, and even acting as a person's "buddy" or sex partner.

At the event on Friday, he will also discuss Tesla's high-speed computer, Dojo, which was unveiled last year and is a crucial component of the company's work on self-driving technology.

According to Musk, Tesla's self-driving capabilities will be complete this year, and by 2024, a robotaxi without a steering wheel or pedals will be mass-produced.

At a "Autonomy" event in 2019, Musk stated that he would give away 1 million robotaxis by the year 2020, but he hasn't done so yet.