Elon Musk's Optimus humanoid robot tumbled: Here's why it happened

A move which could serve as a setback for Elon Musk's ambitious autonomous plans with Tesla, a recent video has taken off across social media showing the Optimus robot crashing to the ground after losing balance.

The Optimus robot toppling took place at a Tesla store in Miami during the “Autonomy Visualised” event, contradicting Musk's claims that Optimus' widespread use could lay the groundwork for a future of "sustainable abundance" where physical labour would be optional.

Optimus attempted to grasp a bottle, but to no avail. As shown in the clip, the robot knocked several others off the table before crashing to the floor.

Was Optimus robot being remotely controlled?

What led to the speculations that the Optimus was being remotely controlled, perhaps through a VR headset, by a Tesla worker is that just before falling, it raised its hands to its head.

This has led the netizens to speculate that the robot collapsed after the human operator abruptly removed their headset.

Netizens reacted with a mix of humour and criticism, as one user remarked, “If there was any doubt about Optimus using teleoperation, this video clearly shows it.” Another added, “Elon is deceiving people into believing Optimus can perform simple tasks.”

If this belief has anything to go by, this would contradict Musk’s claims that Optimus operates autonomously using advanced AI. Musk has previously showcased Optimus performing tasks like kung fu with a human, highlighting its proclaimed autonomous capabilities.