--- title: "Tesla Caught Using a Lazy Video Editing Trick to Make Its “Autonomous” Robots Look More Capable" description: "Tesla Reality Distortion Tesla released a flashy video of its Optimus humanoid robot in action, showing it wandering the company's factory halls, picking up boxes, climbing stairs, and pouring visitors drinks at a bar. But there's one detail about the video you may have missed: as spotted by Gizmodo, a lot of the footage has been […]" date: "2024-10-17" modified: "2024-10-17" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-sped-up-video-optimus-robots" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" - "Tesla" tags: - "elon musk" - "Humanoid Robots" - "optimus" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Tesla Caught Using a Lazy Video Editing Trick to Make Its “Autonomous” Robots Look More Capable ![]() *\Image: Tesla\* ## Tesla Reality Distortion Tesla [released a flashy video]() of its Optimus humanoid robot in action, showing it wandering the company's factory halls, picking up boxes, climbing stairs, and pouring visitors drinks at a bar. But there's one detail about the video you may have missed: as [spotted by *Gizmodo*](), a lot of the footage has been considerably sped up presumably to make the robot look more capable than it actually is. To be fair, Tesla wasn't exactly trying to hide its editing trick: an easily-missed textbox in the upper right-hand corner reveals that the footage was sped up anywhere from two to ten times normal speed. But given the fact the company was just [recently caught employing human actors]() to make it look like its robots are able to talk autonomously at its "We, Robot" event last week, the sped-up footage highlights just how far behind Tesla is behind its [steep humanoid robotics competition](). https://twitter.com/Tesla\_Optimus/status/1846797392521167223 ## Faking Progress Naturally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has set some extremely ambitious targets, promising in a [July tweet]() that Optimus will go into "low production for Tesla internal use next year and, hopefully, high production for other companies in 2026." But whether it'll be ready within that short timeframe remains unclear at best. If you want to see just how much time Optimus takes to lift up a tray of battery cells, *Gizmodo*'s Matt Novak has helpfully [slowed down the footage to real-time in a YouTube video](). A separate portion of the video shows the robot's lengthy tether, which presumably provides it with power. In other words, the otherwise allegedly "autonomous" robot still requires to be plugged in, at least while pouring thirsty factory visitors some drinks. In January, Tesla was also [busted for faking a video]() showing the company's [latest-generation]() Optimus humanoid robot painstakingly folding a shirt on a table. As Musk later admitted himself, the robot was teleoperated by a human nearby. "Important note: Optimus cannot yet do this autonomously, but certainly will be able to do this fully autonomously and in an arbitrary environment," Musk [tweeted]() at the time. **More on Tesla:** *[Director of "I, Robot" Accuses Elon Musk of Ripping Him Off]()* ## 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]()