--- title: "Tesla Shows Off Talking Robot That Sounds an Awful Lot Like a Guy Speaking Into a Microphone" description: "Tesla dazzled with its humanoid Optimus robots at its recent event. But it appears that their speech is really the work of a remote human." date: "2024-10-11" modified: "2024-10-11" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-talking-robot-human-microphone" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" - "Tesla" tags: - "optimus" - "robots" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Tesla Shows Off Talking Robot That Sounds an Awful Lot Like a Guy Speaking Into a Microphone ![Tesla dazzled with its humanoid Optimus robots at its recent event. But it appears that their speech is really the work of a remote human.]() *\Image: Tesla\* ## Robo-Rigged Tesla put on a big show at its [Robotaxi event]() on Thursday night. But nothing was more eyebrow-raising than its Optimus robots: the slim, sleek, AI-powered humanoids that are supposedly capable of "everything," according to CEO Elon Musk. "The Optimus will walk among you," Musk said at the event, [as quoted by *The Verge*](). "You'll be able to walk right up to them, and they will serve drinks." And serve drinks, they did — [slowly](). The robots were also paraded onstage and did a [bunch of jigs and dances]() to predictable choices of music. It was once they got into the mix of the crowd, however, that they were able to really show off. And maybe a little too much. In a [video]() shared by the official Tesla Owners Silicon Valley account, for example, an Optimus robot skillfully holds down a conversation with a human presenter. "What's the hardest thing about being a robot?" it was asked. "Uhh… trying to… learn to be as human as you guys," the robot replied. But its speech is so seamless and lifelike — and without any of the slight processing delays you'd expect from an AI model — that many speculated that the robot's "voice" might actually be someone remotely speaking into a microphone. While Tesla didn't outright promise that its Optimus robots could speak with the help of a large language model, given Musk's continued focus on AI during the rest of the event, it wasn't exactly a big assumption to make. "That voice is just a dude hidden somewhere, not the robot," tech journalist Parix Marx [wrote in a tweet](). https://twitter.com/teslaownersSV/status/1844610376165425658 ## Remote Work This wouldn't be unprecedented sleight-of-hand for Tesla. Earlier this year, when Musk [shared a video]() of an Optimus robot folding clothes, skeptics noted that it appeared that the machine [was actually being controlled by an engineer](). It was only in a later reply that Musk felt he needed to clarify that the robot wasn't capable of doing that task autonomously. And again: what's telling is that it doesn't appear that Musk ever explicitly claimed that the Optimus robots could talk, and thus avoided putting himself on the hook. Instead, he can just dangle the facade of robot conversationalists, dazzle everyone up front, and clear things up later (or not) after the breathless PR has already taken hold. The [on-the-ground]() opinion of Robert Scoble, an ardent tech evangelist who attended the event, was that they were "not wholly AI," and that the voice was more or less a "[walkie talkie]()." "A human is remote assisting," he [wrote in a tweet](). In another [video](), he also explicitly asked an Optimus model how much of it is AI-powered. "I can't disclose just how much," the robot replied. "That's something you'll have to find out later." "But some, or none?" Scoble prodded. "I would say… it might be some," it answered sheepishly. "I'm not gonna confirm, but it might be some." We'll let that speak for itself. **More on Tesla:** *[Tesla Shares Plummet Following Elon Musk's "Disappointing" Robotaxi Event]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()