Tesla (TSLA) is ramping up its efforts to develop its humanoid robot Optimus, which is expected to launch at the end of 2025.
The robot, which is also known as Tesla Bot, will be “capable of performing unsafe, repetitive or boring tasks,” according to Tesla’s website, and will also be deployed in the company's factories.
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“Tesla will have genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production for Tesla internal use next year and, hopefully, high production for other companies in 2026,” wrote Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a tweet on July 22.
With 2025 around the corner, Tesla has been accelerating hiring in its artificial intelligence and robotics sector, which includes Optimus development, since mid-July.
After releasing two Optimus robots at one of its factories, it appears that the company is looking to pay a pretty penny for workers to help develop the technology, which involves wearing and operating a motion capture suit and virtual reality headset for several hours a day.
A recent job listing on Tesla’s website titled “Data Collection Operator, Tesla Bot (Night Shift)” reveals that the company is hiring an employee in California who can walk around for over seven hours a day while carrying up to 30 pounds of equipment for $25.25 to $48 an hour.
To qualify for the job, the candidate must be between 5 feet 7 inches and 5 feet 11 inches tall and use the motion capture suits. The potential employee will also be expected to use “continuous hand/eye coordination,” “fine manipulation,” “body coordination,” “kinesthetic awareness,” and be able to walk up and down stairs while testing out the equipment.
The job description also notes that VR headsets “can be disorienting and uncomfortable for some people, which can result in VR sickness symptoms.”
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Workers will also be expected to analyze and report on data they collect while testing out the performance of the equipment, which involves writing daily reports detailing observations and issues.
Tesla's previous safety issues with robotics at its factories
Tesla’s speedy development of its Optimus robot comes after it was revealed in a report from The Information in November 2023 that for years, Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, Texas, faced many robot-related safety issues.
In one alleged incident in 2021, a robot arm, which was supposed to be shut down for maintenance, “was inadvertently left operational” and pinned an engineer to a surface while going through its normal operations, “pushing its claws into his body and drawing blood from his back and his arm,” according to the report. After another worker hit an emergency stop button, the engineer was able to free himself from the robot’s grasp but fell into a chute while doing so, “leaving a trail of blood behind him.”
The report also revealed that one out of every 21 workers were reportedly hurt at the factory in 2022, according to data Tesla submitted to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
During a shareholder event in June, Musk said that Optimus is expected to make Tesla worth $25 trillion in the future. Over 1,000 Optimus robots, which will autonomously perform tasks in Tesla's factories, will be working at the company in 2025.
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