A new leaked video from a Tesla demonstration in Miami this weekend shows the Optimus humanoid robot taking a nasty fall. But it’s not just the moment of the fall that’s striking; it’s the robot’s hand movements as it falls, suggesting it’s mimicking a remote operator frantically removing a VR headset.
“Autonomy Visualized,” But Autonomy Absent
Humanoid robots are currently generating significant interest. Billions of dollars in investment are being poured into this field, and Elon Musk is trying to justify the company’s valuation by claiming Optimus will be a trillion-dollar product for Tesla. With the advancement of artificial intelligence, humanoid robots were expected to replace humans in an increasing number of tasks using new general artificial intelligence.
However, serious concerns remain about these efforts, both ethically and technologically. From a technological perspective, most humanoid robot demonstrations rely on remote control by human operators, demonstrating the continuing gap between software and hardware.
This weekend, Tesla held an event titled “Autonomy Visualized” at its Miami store. The goal was to showcase Tesla’s “Autopilot technology and Optimus.” However, there was nothing “autonomous” about Tesla’s “autonomy” event.
Many Tesla fans shared videos of the Optimus robot handing out water bottles, taking photos, and dancing. However, a video has surfaced on Reddit showing a completely different moment from the demonstration. In the video, Tesla Optimus moves his hands very quickly, causing some water bottles to fall to the ground. He then loses his balance and begins to fall backward.
But the most interesting part is that, just before falling backward, the robot’s two hands quickly rise up to its “face,” making a distinct grasping motion, as if it were pulling an object from its head.
This movement is instantly recognizable to anyone who has used VR or watched teleoperation setups. Apparently, a human operator, either behind the scenes or at a remote facility, removed his VR headset for an unknown reason while controlling the robot.
As Optimus fell to the ground, he faithfully mimicked the gesture of removing a non-existent headset. This strongly supports Tesla’s claims that, despite its alleged “artificial intelligence demonstrations,” it still relies heavily on remote control (teleoperation) to control robots at critical moments.
