Renowned billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has taken to social media to echo a prediction by David Holz, founder of the artificial intelligence (AI) research lab Midjourney, foreseeing the presence of roughly 1 billion humanoid robots on Earth by the 2040s.
Holz’s bold forecast, shared in a recent post, also anticipates a staggering 100 billion robots, primarily of extraterrestrial origin, throughout the solar system by the 2060s. Musk, responding on X (formerly Twitter), expressed his agreement with the projection, stating, “Probably something like that, provided the foundations of civilization are stable.”
Musk’s electric vehicle company, Tesla, has been at the forefront of advancements in robotics, unveiling the Tesla Optimus, also known as Tesla Bot, at the AI Day event in August 2021. Musk asserted the potential significance of the humanoid robot, remarking that it could become more impactful than Tesla’s core vehicle business over time.
While presenting the prototype in October 2022, Musk revealed plans to manufacture millions of Optimus robots, each estimated to cost around $20,000. However, he acknowledged the robot’s limited capabilities at that stage and expressed caution about assigning it more complex tasks during its initial public appearance.
Acknowledging the ongoing refinement process, Musk stated, “There’s still a lot of work to be done to refine Optimus. I think Optimus is going to be incredible in five or 10 years.” In 2022, Musk conveyed his hope to bring the humanoid robot to market within three to five years, emphasizing its potential as an “extremely capable” machine once fully developed.
While the production of humanoid robots may not align directly with Tesla’s primary goal of accelerating sustainable energy, Musk sees the venture as broadening the company’s mission to contribute to making the future remarkable. In a statement to Reuters, Musk noted, “I think the mission does somewhat broaden with the advent of Optimus to – you know, I don’t know: making the future awesome.”
Carlo Juancho FuntanillaFrontend Developer, WordPress, Shopify
Contributing Editor
AMA ACLC San Pablo
