Tesla bot

Inflated optimism and exaggeration have long accompanied the predictions of Elon Musk, but this time media is calling him on it.

AI Day on August 19 set the stage to introduce the newly developed D1 chip that will power the artificial intelligence (AI) that enables its autopilot system. He called it "the best chip in the world." Motley Fool thinks it impressive.

Then the intention to build a humanoid robot was announced. A breakdancing actor in a robot costume entertained the audience. "But Musk gave no indication of having made concrete progress on actually building such a machine," says The Guardian. 

Musk claims the robot should be able to do general tasks, as opposed to merely specific tasks (think of manufacturing robots). He claimed that their expertise in AI will enable Tesla to do this, though their "full self-driving" is far from level 5.

So Ars Technica concludes, "Tesla Bot is the company’s troubled Autopilot system in humanoid form."

From a Forbes writer, "Is Tesla a serious company? Sure it is. [But] is the Tesla Bot at all serious?" This time it's harder to take Elon seriously.