Musk previews Tesla's humanoid robot, but cautions it is not ready just yet - Reuters

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O) CEO Elon Musk showed off on Friday a prototype of its humanoid robot 'Optimus', predicting the electric vehicle maker would be able to produce millions and sell them for under $20,000 - less than a third of the price of a Model Y.

Musk said he expected Tesla would be ready to take orders for the robot in three to five years, and described an effort to develop the product over a decade or more, the most detailed vision he has provided to date on a business he has said could be bigger than Tesla's EV revenue.

An experimental test robot that Tesla said was developed in February walked out to wave at the crowd on Friday, and Tesla showed a video of it doing simple tasks, such as watering plants, carrying boxes and lifting metal bars at a production station at the company's California plant.

"We are trying to follow the goal of fastest path to a useful robot that can be made at volume," Musk said.

By developing a robotics business, Musk said, Tesla is shifting the terms of a well-known mission statement that has become part of its appeal to investors and climate activists by committing to "accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.".

Musk, who has spoken before about the risks of artificial intelligence, said the mass rollout of robots had the potential to “transform civilization” and create “a future of abundance, a future of no poverty.” But he said he believed it was important that Tesla shareholders had a role in vetting the company’s efforts.

Many reactions on Twitter were positive, focusing on the speed of Tesla's development effort since August last year, when Tesla announced its project with a stunt that had a person in a white suit simulate a humanoid robot.

Henri Ben Amor, a robotics professor at Arizona State University, said Musk's price target of $20,000 was a "good proposition," since current costs are about $100,000 for humanoid robots.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk showed off on Friday a prototype of its humanoid robot 'Optimus', predicting the electric vehicle maker would be able to produce millions and sell them for under $20,000 - less than a third of the price of a Model Y.