--- title: "Elon Musk: Tesla Making a Robot Because “Robots Are Coming Anyway”" description: "Elon Musk seems to be singing a different tune when it comes to the dangers of AI. \"The robots are coming anyway, as Boston Dynamics videos clearly show.\"" date: "2021-09-02" modified: "2021-09-02" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-robots-coming-anyway" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "ai" - "artificial intelligence" - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk: Tesla Making a Robot Because “Robots Are Coming Anyway” ![Elon Musk seems to be singing a different tune when it comes to the dangers of AI. "The robots are coming anyway, as Boston Dynamics videos clearly show."]() *\Image: Tesla/Futurism\* ## Banging the AI Drum For years, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has warned us that artificial intelligence is coming for us all. "I’ve been banging this AI drum for a decade," Musk [told *Insider*]() last year. He's even gone as far as saying that AI is more dangerous than nuclear war. In 2017, [he said]() that that efforts to make AI safe only have "a five to 10 percent chance of success." Which makes his [recent announcement]() that Tesla is developing a humanoid robot all the more perplexing. The "Tesla Bot" is "intended to be friendly," as the billionaire claimed during the company's AI Day event last month. All told, Musk seems to be singing a different tune lately when it comes to the dangers of AI. "The robots are coming anyway, as Boston Dynamics videos clearly show," [Musk tweeted]() today in response to a Twitter user [pointing out]() Musk's double standard. ## Robots are Coming Boston Dynamics [most recently released a video]() of a pair of its humanoid Atlas robots performing impressive parkour stunts — something that clearly left an impression on Musk, who [tweeted "impressive"]() in response to the video. "I will not be able to ensure that robots made by other companies are safe, but I can try my best to do so at Tesla," Musk argued in today's tweet. But whether Tesla's robot is an actual project the company is seriously tackling remains to be seen. All we've seen so far is a human in a Tesla Bot costume dancing on stage at the company's AI event. Was it [just a distraction]() to draw the attention away from the [car company's trouble]() with regulators over its Full Self-Driving capabilities? Or, if it is real, will Tesla be able to ensure Tesla Bot will play nice forever? Or is Elon Musk trying to curry favor with our future robotic overlords? If you can't beat them, join them — which just happens to be the [mission statement]() of Musk's neurotech startup Neuralink. **More on Tesla:** *[Feds Demand Data on Teslas Crashing Into Emergency Responders]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()