%Tesla () has given consumers the first in-person look at its new humanoid robot called %Optimus .
The robot, also known as the %Tesla Bot was brought on stage at the electric vehicle maker’s annual %AIDay , an engineer-recruiting event held in Palo Alto, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Tesla chief executive officer (CEO) Elon Musk showed off a humanoid robot, which he said was only a “rough development robot.” The robot walked on stage and waved its hands in the air.
Musk previously co-founded an %ArtificialIntelligence (AI) venture called OpenAI. In 2015, OpenAI boasted that it had trained a robot to solve a Rubik’s Cube on its own. However, Musk eventually abandoned OpenAI.
But now, Tesla is increasingly focusing on artificial intelligence, both in the development of self-driving vehicles and with the Optimus robot.
Musk showed off the Tesla Bot’s robotic hands, which can grasp and manipulate a wide range of objects.
Still, Musk cautioned that Tesla is still figuring out how to make a humanoid robot work in the real world, adding that it will likely be three to five years before consumers can buy an Optimus.
During a question-and-answer session, Musk admitted that developing a robot was not in keeping with Tesla’s core electric vehicle mission. He said Optimus expands the Tesla mission of %MakingTheFutureAwesome .
Tesla’s stock is down 34% this year and trading at $265.25 U.S. per share.