In Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s zeitgeist to conquer future tech today, he says that the Tesla humanoid robot will go into production and be available next year. Of course, Musk has a habit of underestimating development for some of the projects he oversees. But love him or hate him, Musk is pushing the tech envelope in a big way.

What is the name of the Tesla robot?

Back in August, Musk revealed that his bi-pedal “Tesla Bot” robot would use the same technology as is being developed for Tesla’s autonomous vehicle programs. He further said the purpose of the Tesla Bot is to have it do “unsafe, repetitive, and boring tasks.” Now, at the recent Cyber Rodeo held at the Tesla factory in Texas, the Tesla Bot, with the new name “Optimus Sub-Prime,” is on the fast track to go into production next year.

“Anything humans don’t want to do, Optimus will do,” Musk said. “It may be hard to imagine it, but as you see Optimus develop, we will make sure it is safe, no terminator stuff or that kind of thing. How it’s really going to transform the world to a degree even greater than the cars. I think we have a shot at being in production for version one, hopefully, next year.”

No prototype has been seen publicly. And we don’t know at what stage the robot is at in its development. Concepts, including the one shown at the Texas event, have been displayed. But we don’t know how close it is to what is actually poised to go into production. 

What will the Tesla robot look like?

What we know is that it is being built around the proportions of human beings, because, after all, the world is made for humans. At almost six feet tall, it weighs 125 lbs. Slightly lighter than an actual six-foot person.

The big thing that Musk has said in the past is that the robot can accept downloads of its owner’s brain characteristics. This covers even the owner’s personality. “We could download the things that we believe make ourselves so unique,” Musk said. “Now, of course, if you’re not in that body anymore, that is definitely going to be a difference. But as far as preserving our memories, our personality, I think we could do that.”

How much will the Tesla robot cost?

With prototypes still a secret, we can only go by what Musk is willing to reveal. But it is clear that his robot’s abilities will go far beyond the ability to do mundane tasks. Obviously, between his efforts in tunnel boring, rockets to Mars, magnetic levitation trains, electric vehicles, and more, he’s pushing multiple envelopes. 

Estimates of the cost for one of Musk’s robots have been pegged at $10,000. Just in the past few days, Tesla has ramped up hiring for its Optimus robot project. So Musk is putting might behind getting it out by next year. Obviously, we’re all anxious to see how this evolves.