At Tesla's annual shareholder meeting on November 6, CEO Elon Musk suggested that the company's Optimus humanoid robots could serve as a more humane alternative to prisons by following individuals and stopping them from committing crimes. He described a scenario where convicted individuals receive a free Optimus to monitor and intervene in their behavior. The remarks highlight Musk's vision for robotics in society but have sparked ethical and practical concerns.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made headlines during the company's annual shareholder meeting on November 6 by outlining a provocative role for the Optimus humanoid robot in crime prevention. Addressing shareholders, Musk proposed that Optimus could provide a "more humane form of containment of future crime," eliminating the need for traditional incarceration. He envisioned a system where someone who has committed a crime receives a free Optimus robot that follows them around, intervening only to stop criminal acts while allowing freedom otherwise.
"If you say, like, you now get a free Optimus and it’s just gonna follow you around and stop you from doing crime, but other than that you get to do anything. It’s just gonna stop you from committing crime, that’s really it," Musk said on stage. He emphasized that this approach would mean "you don’t have to put people in prisons and stuff."
The meeting occurred amid approvals for Musk's $1 trillion compensation package and showcased Optimus prototypes. Musk danced alongside one robot on stage and noted that prototypes are already operating autonomously in Tesla's Palo Alto office, walking around 24/7 and charging themselves. Unveiled in 2022, Optimus stands about 5'8" tall and is designed for human-like tasks, though it remains in early testing with limited demonstrations of basic functions like sorting parts and folding clothes.
Musk hailed Optimus as potentially "the biggest product of all time so far, bigger than cell phones, bigger than anything," predicting internal deployment at Tesla by 2025 and high-volume production for other companies by 2026. However, analysts caution that technical challenges persist, and the robot is far from the advanced autonomy described.
The comments drew comparisons to the sci-fi film "Robocop" and raised immediate concerns. Ethical issues include constant surveillance infringing on personal freedom, questions about the robot's authority to intervene, and the need for precise prediction of human behavior. Following the remarks, Tesla shares (NASDAQ:TSLA) dropped nearly 2.5% in afternoon trading on November 11, reflecting investor skepticism.
