Tesla believes Optimus is going to help foot traffic and customer engagement inside its stores. Sources familiar with the matter told Electrek that Tesla is already testing the approach in China, which is Tesla’s gold standard for retail performance.
Despite record deliveries that beat Wall Street expectations, Tesla didn’t hit its delivery goal for North America last quarter.
Tom Zhu, Tesla’s former head of China who recently took over the company’s entire global automotive business, has been putting a lot of pressure on the North American team to have retail performance closer to Tesla’s China team. Optimus is apparently part of the solution.
Tesla Bot, is a conceptual general-purpose robotic humanoid under development by Tesla. It was announced at the company's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Day event on August 19, 2021. Optimus is planned to measure 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) tall and weigh 125 lb (57 kg). According to the presentation made during the AI Day event, a Tesla Bot will be "controlled by the same AI system Tesla is developing for the advanced driver-assistance system used in its cars" and have a carrying capacity of 45 lb (20 kg). Proposed tasks for the product are ones that are "dangerous, repetitive and boring", such as providing manufacturing assistance.
Source: Electrek