Tesla CEO Elon Musk has announced Tesla is set to begin building humanoid Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered robot assistants designed to "eliminate dangerous, repetitive and boring tasks."
He added: "Essentially, the future of physical work will be a choice."
And the South African billionaire was quick to allay any concerns about the powerful semi-autonomous robot with the quip: "It's intended to be friendly."
The surprise reveal made by Musk came at the climax of Thursday's Tesla's AI Day technology presentation at the cutting-edge electric carmaker's headquarters in Palo Alto, California.
Although many details remain under wraps, the Tesla and SpaceX head did share some of the bot's specifics.
The robot code-named "Optimus" will reportedly rely on much of the technology used in Tesla's pioneering self-driving features.
Slides shown at the Tesla media presentation indicate Autopilot cameras will be installed in the robot's "head."
Positioned at the apex of its 5-foot-8-inches frame, the head will also display key information.
Musk said the 125 pounds Tesla Bot will be capable of carrying 45 pounds, lifting 150 pounds, and even run 5 miles per hour.
Musk added engineers are preempting worries about the Tesla Bot by engineering the tech to allow humans to flee from the robot and overpower the AI humanoid.
However, Musk also appeared to manage fans' exceptions by admitting on stage how the AI robot initially "probably won't work."
Tesla Bot's world premiere coincided with updates concerning some artificial intelligence upgrades to Tesla's electric vehicle.
This included news Tesla's Dojo supercomputer, soon to be incorporated into the Tesla Bot, is now capable of training its latest electric cars to safely travel through city streets autonomously.
Elon Musk said: It makes sense to put that onto humanoid form."
But although the actual Tesla Bot itself failed to make an appearance, the announcement was preceded by a performer dressed as the AI humanoid bizarrely dancing on stage.
Despite the electric carmaker becoming increasingly reliant on artificial intelligence, its CEO has only relatively recently warned of the existential risk the tech poses to the future of humanity.
Musk told The New York Times in 2020 his beliefs that predictions suggest AI could very soon surpass humans' abilities.
He said: "We're headed toward a situation where AI is vastly smarter than humans and I think that time frame is less than five years from now.
"But that doesn't mean that everything goes to hell in five years. It just means that things get unstable or weird."
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a busy man, with numerous high-tech projects on the go. The billionaire is currently attempting to unlock the brain's potential with the human-machine interface project Neuralink.
And Musk is also heading SpaceX, which has partnered with NASA in a bid to return humans to the moon for the first time in 50 years.
