Tesla unveils its latest humanoid robot, Optimus Gen 2, in demo video

Enlarge / The Tesla Optimus Gen 2 robot. (credit: Tesla | Benj Edwards)

On Tuesday, Tesla released a demo video showing the latest version of its prototype humanoid robot, Optimus Gen 2. Over one year after Tesla’s first public Optimus robot demonstration, which showcased shaky robots that waved and slumped over, things have apparently progressed quite a bit, assuming that the video accurately reflects the technology.

“Everything in this video is real, no CGI. All real time, nothing sped up. Incredible hardware improvements from the team,” wrote Tesla Senior Staff Software Engineer Julian Ibarz on X.

After a recent episode where Google fudged an AI demonstration for the sake of marketing hype, it’s best to take Tesla’s claims with a grain of salt until they are independently verified in practical, real-world demonstrations. With that dose of skepticism in mind, let’s take a look at what Tesla is promising in this non-production prototype robot.