Tesla to Have Humanoid Robots for Internal Use Next Year, Musk Says

A Tesla sign is seen on the Shanghai Gigafactory of the US electric car maker before a delivery ceremony in Shanghai, China January 7, 2020. Reuters
A Tesla sign is seen on the Shanghai Gigafactory of the US electric car maker before a delivery ceremony in Shanghai, China January 7, 2020. Reuters
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Tesla to Have Humanoid Robots for Internal Use Next Year, Musk Says

A Tesla sign is seen on the Shanghai Gigafactory of the US electric car maker before a delivery ceremony in Shanghai, China January 7, 2020. Reuters
A Tesla sign is seen on the Shanghai Gigafactory of the US electric car maker before a delivery ceremony in Shanghai, China January 7, 2020. Reuters

Tesla will have humanoid robots in low production for the company's internal use next year, CEO Elon Musk said on Monday, months after he announced that the rollout would be by the end of 2024.
The company will have the robots in high production for other companies' use "hopefully" in 2026, Musk said in a post on social media platform X.
Musk had said in April that the Tesla robot, called Optimus, would be able to perform tasks in the factory by the end of this year and could be ready for sale as soon as the end of 2025, Reuters reported.
Humanoid robots have been in development for several years by Japan's Honda and Hyundai Motor's Boston Dynamics. Several companies are betting on them to meet potential labor shortages and perform repetitive tasks that could be dangerous or tedious in industries such as logistics, warehousing and manufacturing.
Musk has a history of failing to fulfill bold promises to Wall Street. In 2019, he told investors that Tesla would be operating a network of "robotaxi" autonomous cars by 2020.
Tesla put out the first generation of its Optimus robot, dubbed Bumblebee, in September 2022. This year, the company posted a video of a second generation of the bipedal robot folding a T-shirt at the firm's facility.



South Korea Summit to Target ‘Blueprint’ for Using AI in the Military 

Guests attend the opening of an international conference on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military domain, in Seoul, South Korea, 09 September 2024. (EPA/Yonhap)
Guests attend the opening of an international conference on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military domain, in Seoul, South Korea, 09 September 2024. (EPA/Yonhap)
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South Korea Summit to Target ‘Blueprint’ for Using AI in the Military 

Guests attend the opening of an international conference on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military domain, in Seoul, South Korea, 09 September 2024. (EPA/Yonhap)
Guests attend the opening of an international conference on the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military domain, in Seoul, South Korea, 09 September 2024. (EPA/Yonhap)

South Korea convened an international summit on Monday seeking to establish a blueprint for the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the military, though any agreement is not expected to have binding powers to enforce it.

More than 90 countries including the United States and China have sent government representatives to the two-day summit in Seoul, which is the second such gathering.

At the first summit was held in Amsterdam last year, where the United States, China and other nations endorsed a modest "call to action" without legal commitment.

"Recently, in the Russia-Ukraine war, an AI-applied Ukrainian drone functioned as David's slingshot," South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun said in an opening address.

He was referring to Ukraine's efforts for a technological edge against Russia by rolling out AI-enabled drones, hoping they will help overcome signal jamming as well as enable unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to work in larger groups.

"As AI is applied to the military domain, the military's operational capabilities are dramatically improved. However, it is like a double-edged sword, as it can cause damage from abuse," Kim said.

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul said discussions would cover areas such as a legal review to ensure compliance with international law and mechanisms to prevent autonomous weapons from making life-and-death decisions without appropriate human oversight.

The Seoul summit hoped to agree to a blueprint for action, establishing a minimum level of guard-rails for AI in the military and suggesting principles on responsible use by reflecting principles laid out by NATO, by the US or a number of other countries, according to a senior South Korean official.

It was unclear how many nations attending the summit would endorse the document on Tuesday, which is aiming to be a more detailed attempt to set boundaries on AI use in the military, but still likely lack legal commitments.

The summit is not the only international set of discussions on AI use in the military.

UN countries that belong to the 1983 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) are discussing potential restrictions on lethal autonomous weapons systems for compliance with international humanitarian law.

The US government last year also launched a declaration on responsible use of AI in the military, which covers broader military application of AI, beyond weapons. As of August, 55 countries have endorsed the declaration.

The Seoul summit, co-hosted by the Netherlands, Singapore, Kenya and the United Kingdom, aims to ensure ongoing multi-stakeholder discussions in a field where technological developments are primarily driven by the private sector, but governments are the main decision makers.

About 2,000 people globally have registered to take part in the summit, including representatives from international organizations, academia and the private sector, to attend discussions on topics such as civilian protection and AI use in the control of nuclear weapons.