Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk recently took to social media to endorse a prediction made by David Holz, the creator of the AI research lab Midjourney. Holz forecasted that by the 2040s, Earth could see the presence of around 1 billion humanoid robots, with an additional hundred billion, primarily designed for extraterrestrial exploration, populating the solar system by the 2060s, as reported by Fox.
Musk, responding to Holz's prediction on Twitter, concurred, stating, "Probably something like that, provided the foundations of civilization are stable."
Notably, Musk's company, Tesla, is at the forefront of turning this vision into reality. In August 2021, during Tesla's AI Day event, Musk unveiled plans for a humanoid robot prototype called Tesla Optimus. He expressed the belief that this robot could play a pivotal role in achieving the ambitious goal of having 1 billion humanoid robots on Earth within two decades.
Musk emphasized the significance of Tesla Bot, stating, "I think it has the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business over time." Despite unveiling ambitious plans, Musk acknowledged during an October 2022 event that the robot's capabilities would initially be limited.
He envisioned producing millions of Optimus robots, each priced at approximately $20,000. Musk emphasized caution, noting that he didn't want the robot to take on more challenging tasks prematurely to avoid any mishaps during its early stages.
As Musk continues to push the boundaries of innovation, the idea of a future populated with humanoid robots raises both excitement and questions about the potential societal and economic impact of such advancements. The journey towards a billion humanoid robots by 2040 appears to be an ambitious yet intriguing endeavor led by one of the most influential figures in the tech industry.
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