At Tesla's robotaxi unveiling event last week, several Optimus humanoid robots mingled with guests, pouring drinks and cracking jokes. It's impressive technology, but the vocals and some gestures appear to be controlled remotely by humans, something Tesla hasn't disclosed.
On today's episode of Equity, Rebecca Beran talks with TechCrunch's Hardware Editor Brian Heater about Tesla's Optimus Bot, the market opportunity for humanoid robots, and other companies leading the way in this industry. .
Brian pointed out that what Tesla is sharing is essentially an advertisement for what the automaker's technology can do in the future, not what it can do perfectly now. He contrasted this with robotics leader Boston Dynamics, which is working to make outtakes of demo videos transparent.
They also discussed increased investment in the humanoid robot space and whether the hype cycle will die out in the future as investors realize that the path to market is long and expensive.
According to a March report from CBInsights, funding for 2024 has already reached a new high of $775 million for humanoid robots, up from $262 million last year, and deals The number of cases was only 3 compared to 11 last year. Humanoid robot companies received nearly $1 billion in funding as of October, according to PitchBook data.
Brian said humanoid robots will most likely find applications on factory floors in the coming years. Automakers such as BMW are planning to introduce robots from startup Figure into their factories, and Amazon, which has been an avid promoter of robotics for more than a decade, is testing Agility's digital robots in its warehouses. There is.
The biggest advantage of humanoid technology, Brian says, is that “we built the world for ourselves.”
“The idea is that when you go into a factory, it’s a factory built for humans to work in, and you can just effectively plug one of these technologies into it. This is what’s called a brownfield factory…so , we don't have to start from scratch on the automation side.”
In the future, humanoid robots may eventually enter homes and help with household chores, especially for the elderly. This is Kind Humanoid's mission. But when robots interact with humans at that level, there are more safety concerns. Moreover, this technology is much more difficult to solve if we talk about robotics in general, rather than robots that perform specific tasks on a production line.
We discussed all of this, as well as the potential timeline for commercial launch and the growth opportunities investors see in the humanoid robot industry. Please listen and let us know what you think.
Equity is TechCrunch's flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo and posted every Wednesday and Friday.
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