At Tesla‘s recent We, Robot event, the company unveiled the latest iteration of its humanoid robot, Optimus, sparking instant comparisons with Sonny, the robot protagonist from the 2004 movie I, Robot.
The Optimus robot’s likeness to Sonny seems intentional, as underscored by the event’s title. Social media reactions to the unveiling confirmed that the resemblance was not lost on Tesla’s audience, further fueling the sci-fi narrative CEO Elon Musk often embraces.
At the event, where the Cybercab also debuted, Optimus demonstrated its capacity for basic interaction, as seen in a viral clip shared on X, formerly Twitter, by user @cb_doge, who captioned the video, “A conversation between Tesla Optimus bot and a human is the best thing you’ll see on the internet today.”
In the video, Optimus chats with an attendee, asking, “Where are you from?” When the attendee later asks what the hardest part of being a robot is, Optimus replies: “Trying to learn how to be as human as you guys? And that’s something I try harder to do every day.” Newsweek has contacted Tesla via email for comment.
Social media lit up with further comparisons, with one X user commenting that I, Robot “is coming at us faster than we thought.”
Other observers drew connections between Tesla’s new Cybervan and the robot transport vehicles in I, Robot. “Tesla literally created the ROBOT and VAN from iRobot with Optimus and the RoboVan. #WeRobot,” one user wrote.
The humanoids in I, Robot function in the near-future society of 2035, assisting humans with everyday tasks. The protagonist, Sonny, is an advanced model capable of independent thought and emotions. Tesla’s Optimus, while far from possessing Sonny’s sentience, stirred similar excitement for its potential future use cases.
Tesla has previously described Optimus as “a general purpose, bi-pedal, humanoid robot capable of performing tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring.” At the October 10 event, Musk said, “What can it do? It’ll do anything you want.”
“It can be a teacher, babysit your kids. It can walk your dog, mow your lawn, get the groceries, just be your friend, serve drinks. Whatever you can think of, it will do,” he added.
Optimus, the humanoid robot that Tesla unveiled at its October 10 We, Robot event. The robot was seen walking around, serving drinks and even playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with attendees.
Tesla Inc.
“I think this will be the biggest product ever of any kind,” Musk continued.
Though Optimus walked among the crowd at We, Robot—talking with attendees, serving drinks and even playing Rock, Paper, Scissors—no concrete details were given about its future availability.
Musk said he expected it to cost “less than a car,” adding, “You should be able to buy an Optimus robot for, I think, probably $20,000 to $30,000 long term.”
In June, Tesla said of the robot, “It’s already being tested in our factories,” and the company is hiring for 35 specialist roles in its Tesla Bot division, signaling a move forward with Optimus’ development.
The robot’s design isn’t the first time Musk has leaned into sci-fi for inspiration. The Cybertruck, which required a significant recall earlier this month because of faulty rearview cameras, pays homage to several fictional vehicles—specifically the boxy, utilitarian vehicles in Blade Runner and the DeLorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future, which also had an unpainted stainless steel body.
Musk himself has previously said the Cybertruck was partially inspired by the Lotus Esprit sports car that transformed into a submarine in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.
