Tesla is paying folks $48 per hour to coach its humanoid robotic

In a bid to coach its humanoid Optimus robotic, Tesla is reportedly hiring folks keen to put on movement seize fits and VR headsets for seven or extra hours a day. Business Insider notes that the corporate has been recruiting many “Data Collection Operators” in the course of the previous 12 months, together with over 50 folks thus far. The place pays anyplace between $25.25 and $48 per hour, plus advantages and bonuses, equivalent to shares.

Whereas suited up, hires are anticipated to stroll take a look at routes and carry out quite a lot of duties, producing knowledge for later evaluation — not less than a few of which they’re going to be reporting on themselves. It is also a bodily demanding place, requiring not simply a number of strolling, however carrying weight as much as 30 kilos, and a pure resistance to the disorientation VR may cause. Hires should measure between 5’7″ and 5’11” tall — the dimensions of the movement seize fits — and be keen to work a day, night, or night time shift plus occasional extra time.

Tesla’s robotic ambitions

CEO Elon Musk first revealed plans to construct a humanoid robotic in 2021. Whereas the short-term aim is to have the robotic working in Tesla factories, the long-term one is to create a general-purpose machine that may be offered elsewhere. Musk has even prompt that Optimus might be used as a caregiver, though it seemingly has an extended method to go earlier than it may possibly deal with that delicate a process.

In June 2024, the corporate introduced that it already had two Optimus robots working autonomously. It did not say which manufacturing unit (or factories) the robots had been in, nevertheless, or what duties they had been assigned. Earlier demonstrations of Optimus counsel that these duties might be menial, equivalent to carrying and sorting gadgets. Tesla factories are already closely automated utilizing specialised non-humanoid programs.

Maximizing automation is believed to be key to Tesla’s broader aim of pushing manufacturing prices down. EVs are costlier than their gas-powered counterparts, owing to the price of batteries. Totally automated factories wouldn’t solely slash human payrolls, however enhance effectivity, since robots can function 24/7 barring any recharge or upkeep time. Tesla has but to ship on its purpose of an everyman “Mannequin 2” automobile that is under the price of a $35,000 Model 3.