Tesla shows off the latest capabilities of its robot, Optimus
Tesla
Tesla's venture into the realm of humanoid robots, represented by Optimus, has taken colossal strides since its inception. Remember the first "robot" that was a person dressed up? Or the second one that was barely able to move? Initially met with skepticism due to a less-than-stellar unveiling, the latest updates showcase Optimus' ability to autonomously sort objects and move around — specifically doing yoga and revealing Elon Musk's vision inching closer to reality.
From Skepticism to Anticipation
Initially introduced at AI Day 2021, Optimus — or Tesla Bot — came off as a half-baked concept featuring a dancer in a robot suit, sparking doubts across the spectrum. The journey from a man in a suit and a CGI trailer to working prototypes in AI Day 2022 reflects Tesla's unwavering dedication to innovation. The skeptics have served a stark reminder: Tesla's capability for rapid advancement is unparalleled.
Recent demonstrations depict a more refined Optimus, exhibiting fluid movements, advanced balancing capabilities, autonomous task execution, and even dealing with an annoying human who keeps messing with the blocks! These advancements indicate Tesla's relentless progress in neural network training, ensuring that Optimus can interact autonomously and adapt efficiently to real-world scenarios.
Autonomous Learning, Adaptation & Safety
Autonomous sorting and self-calibration are indicative of the significant leaps made by Optimus. The robot's ability to learn, correct, and adapt showcases a future where monotonous, repetitive tasks are relegated to the past, allowing humanity to explore uncharted territories of creativity and innovation.
Safety remains paramount as Musk emphasizes the necessity for local safety maximization, highlighting the commitment to integrating Optimus seamlessly and safely into society. The promise of a centralized pause function showcases a thoughtful approach to ensuring human control and oversight.
Versatility and Vision
In a captivating display of versatility, Optimus was seen performing yoga poses, a testament to its adaptability and range of potential applications beyond industrial tasks. With Elon Musk envisioning Optimus performing ballet one day, the boundaries seem limitless for this technological marvel. In the video Tesla talks about Optimus's capabilities, stating:
“Tesla Optimus is now capable of self-calibrating its arms and legs. Using only vision and joint position encoders, it can precisely locate its limbs in space. Accurately calibrated, Optimus learns various tasks more efficiently. Its neural net runs entirely on-board, using only vision. For example, it can sort these blocks by color fully autonomously. And it does so while dealing with the dynamic reality of our world. Optimus also demonstrates autonomous, corrective action capabilities. It can be trained to conduct new tasks, such as un-sorting. And after a long day of work, time to stretch. Namaste!”
Musk's bullish predictions hint at Optimus contributing substantially to Tesla's long-term value. With a potential demand reaching billions of units, Optimus is poised to revolutionize industries and redefine the integration of robotics in daily life. A 2027 release might have seemed ambitious, but given the rapid progress, it is increasingly plausible.
Tesla's Optimus program illustrates ambition, innovation, and rapid development from CGI skepticism to witnessing a more refined, adaptable, and autonomous robot. I, for one, can't wait for the next AI Day.
Optimus Sorting Objects
Optimus can now sort objects autonomously ?
Its neural network is trained fully end-to-end: video in, controls out.
Come join to help develop Optimus (& improve its yoga routine ?)
Over the years, Tesla has introduced UI elements that indicate when specific hardware or software features are active—and these two new dots follow the same pattern.
In June 2024, Tesla introduced the ability to see which third-party apps have access to the vehicle’s location, and these new indicator dots have a similar goal — to improve transparency on features that impact privacy.
Green Dot
If you’ve noticed a green dot on your Tesla display or the instrument cluster for the Model S or Model X, then you have access to Tesla’s hands-free Autopilot feature.
The green dot is displayed on the screen whenever FSD or Autopilot is active and the vehicle is using the interior camera to monitor the driver’s attention.
The cabin camera does a much better job monitoring the driver than the old method of sensing torque on the steering wheel. The cabin camera detects driver attention by tracking the driver’s head and eyes and making sure they’re focusing on the road. If the driver looks away from the road for an extended period, the vehicle will warn the driver or issue a strike for repeat offenses.
If the cabin camera is occluded or obscured, or if it’s simply too dark, the vehicle will fall back to monitoring the driver by detecting torque on the steering wheel.
The presence of the green dot not only lets the driver know that the interior camera is being used but also lets them know whether they need to keep their hands on the steering wheel.
It’s important to note that images and video taken with the interior camera are processed in the vehicle and do not leave the vehicle unless you have granted access for Tesla to use them to improve functionality.
You can check your privacy and data sharing policy in Controls > Software and tap the Data Sharing button at the bottom.
Orange Dot
The orange dot functions similarly to the green one, but instead of indicating cabin camera usage, it appears when the vehicle’s microphone is active. This was added with software update 2025.2, which now listens for audio cues to detect emergency vehicles and other types of noises that could help the vehicle better understand its environment in the future.
Tesla is currently collecting this data to refine its ability to detect emergency vehicles even before they come into view. This capability is expected to be added in FSD v14 along with a larger model size.
Like cabin camera analytics, drivers can opt to share audio data with Tesla to improve detection accuracy. Many users received an “Allow Sound Detection Analytics” prompt following the recent update. If they consent, Tesla may use certain audio snippets to help improve their detection model. Any data transmitted to Tesla is not linked to a specific user or vehicle, so it can’t be tied to a specific individual.
Otherwise, all audio detection and processing is completed in the vehicle to ensure the driver’s privacy.
Tesla proves once again that it listens to its customers, and this is a perfect example. Since the Cybertruck’s launch with an adjustable air suspension, owners have been requesting suspension-related features.
One major request is the ability to remotely adjust the vehicle’s height. This could previously only be done from inside the cabin via the touchscreen, but Tesla has now added it to the latest version of the Tesla app. However, using the feature also requires vehicle software 2025.8 or higher.
This software update also brings improvements to the Cybertruck’s steer-by-wire system, which is set to come to future Tesla models. Unlike traditional rack-and-pinion steering, steer-by-wire is not directly connected to the wheels like other vehicles, and “road feel” does not carry through to the steering wheel. Instead, Tesla implements software-driven wheel feedback, which is being improved in this update.
Remote Height Adjust
Now, as of Tesla software update 2025.8 and Tesla App V4.42.5, Cybertruck owners can remotely adjust the height of their Cybertruck through the Tesla app. This setting is in the Controls section of the app.
Here, you can adjust to the four pre-set road heights, including High, Medium, Low, and Entry. For now, you cannot adjust to the two Off-Road Mode heights, which are Very High and Extract.
Now, if you don’t own a Cybertruck, you’re probably wondering why so many are asking for this feature. Well, if you want to go off-roading or even want to load something into the bed of your truck, it’s convenient to be able to remotely adjust the height of the car without having to go in it first.
You can also use it to show off the Cybertruck’s massive vertical range of motion - which can go nearly eight inches from Entry to Extract - all without having to hop into the Cybertruck.
Model S and Model X?
This feature could also potentially make its way to the Model S and Model X sometime in the future since both of these vehicles also have an adjustable air suspension. Today, the heights of these vehicles can only be adjusted inside the vehicle.
We’re sure some Model S and Model X owners would love to be able to adjust the suspension remotely, even if they may not have the same use cases — it’s still a nice to have feature.
Steer-by-Wire Improvements
Tesla has improved the Steer-by-Wire feedback and response on the Cybertruck’s yoke. This new update should provide more realistic wheel feedback. The feedback will now adapt to different road surfaces for a better driving experience.
That means the response and feedback of the wheel will now be more precise - and also be varied by what kind of terrain you’re driving on.
More Features
One more thing we’d love to see from Tesla regarding the Cybertruck is the ability to drop just one side of the suspension. This is possible in Service Mode, where you can deflate either the front or rear air tanks, thereby inducing a slant to the vehicle.
This makes loading items even easier, as the bottom of the tailgate is now even closer to the ground. Tesla showed off the feature during the Cybertruck’s initial reveal. While the Cybertruck never arrived with its built-in ramp, we’d still love the ability to dip the truck for easier loading.
Another feature that was supposed to arrive for the Cybertruck was related to Steer-by-Wire. Today, the Cybertruck can steer up to 7 degrees, but the actual hard limit for the rear wheels is somewhere between 10 and 14 degrees. We’d love to see Tesla expand the rear wheel steering limits which will help reduce the Cybertruck’s already tight turning circle.
Four-Wheel Steering gives Cybertruck a tighter turning radius than a Model S
At low speeds, rear wheels rotate opposite to the front wheels—enabling tighter maneuvering around the jobsite, parking lots, etc pic.twitter.com/nxDiRTZKEI
