Tesla previews humanoid robot, but Musk cautions it is not ready just yet

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk said on Friday the electric vehicle maker's eagerly anticipated humanoid robot 'Optimus' would cost under $20,000 and cautioned it still had way to go before becoming fully functional.

"There's still a lot of work to be done to refine Optimus and prove it," Musk told the electric vehicle maker's "AI Day" event being held at a Tesla office in Palo Alto, California.

Musk said existing humanoid robots are “missing a brain” – and the ability to solve problems on their own. By contrast, he said, Optimus would be an "extremely capable robot" that Tesla would aim to produce in the millions. He said he expected it would cost less than $20,000.

Tesla said the company had developed a prototype for its robot in February. That early model walked out to wave at the crowd on Friday, and Tesla showed a video of it doing simple tasks, such as watering plants, carrying boxes and lifting metal bars at a production station at Tesla’s California plant.

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