Elon Musk’s Optimus Robotic Collapses in a Hilariously Suspicious Approach

Tesla held a particular pop-up occasion over the weekend for Artwork Basel Miami Seaside, the worldwide artwork honest in Florida. The pop-up was dubbed “The Way forward for Autonomy Visualized” and reportedly featured Elon Musk’s Cybercab prototype and Optimus robots. However a video from the occasion goes viral for all of the improper causes. And it’s fairly hilarious.

The video, which seems to have first been posted to r/teslamotors on Reddit, exhibits an Optimus robotic knock over a number of bottles of water on a desk earlier than lifting its arms into the air. The arms transfer in ways in which can be in step with taking off a VR headset, after which they fall closely, with one hitting a water on the desk that appears to blow up and shoot water all over the place. After that, Optimus seems to go lifeless and falls backward.

The video is simply 5 seconds lengthy, however it tells fairly a joke in that quick burst of time.

What’s taking place right here? Many individuals on-line speculate that an unseen particular person was controlling the Optimus robotic, and that particular person took off their headset earlier than disconnecting. And that appears to be the almost certainly clarification.

This type of robotic management is named teleoperation, and it has been in existence since a minimum of the Forties. Typically known as a waldo, Walt Disney confirmed off how he made the 1964 New York World’s Honest attraction Carousel of Progress with the same expertise.

Disney and his engineers didn’t have VR headsets, in fact, however the primary thought is identical. Somebody who can’t be seen by the meant viewers is manipulating controls that truly transfer the robotic in actual time.

This new viral video from Artwork Basel isn’t the primary time Musk has been caught stretching the reality about his Optimus robotic’s capabilities. Again in January 2024, Musk posted a video displaying Optimus folding a shirt. Musk’s legion of followers on X celebrated the achievement, since folding laundry is each a sensible software of humanoid robotics that individuals have been wanting for many years, in addition to a maneuver that’s onerous for humanoid robots to do effectively.

Nevertheless it turned out Musk wasn’t being very clear when he initially posted the video. Some eagle-eyed social media customers began asking why we may see what seemed to be a hand coming briefly into body within the lower-right nook. The hand appeared to match up completely with what Optimus was doing.

That was virtually two years in the past, and there have been different examples from Musk’s Optimus hype machine. For instance, Musk hosted an occasion in Los Angeles in October 2024, saying his Cybercab idea automobile that he promised was simply 2-3 years away. After the occasion, there was a celebration that includes Optimus robots that have been pouring beers and handing them out to visitors. Friends have been impressed till tech evangelist Robert Scoble began asking some questions. Scoble was advised that the robots have been teleoperated.

The Tesla Diner in Los Angeles has featured Optimus robots handing out popcorn, although many individuals have speculated that these bots are teleoperated, as effectively. Tesla didn’t reply to questions on Monday about whether or not there was somebody working Optimus on the Miami occasion from a distant location.

Ever because the shirt-folding video, it’s develop into fairly normal for folks on social media to ask whether or not a given robotic video exhibits actual autonomy. There was even a interval final yr when nearly each robotic maker began slapping textual content on their movies to guarantee viewers their creations weren’t being teleoperated. Musk’s showmanship and sleight of hand have naturally made folks suspicious.

Musk was lately requested whether or not a video of Optimus “studying Kung Fu” was autonomous. Musk replied, “AI, not teleoperated.” However clearly, folks have been skeptical given the truth that you may see a man holding a online game controller within the background. Gizmodo couldn’t independently confirm that the video exhibits Optimus working autonomously.

Tesla Optimus studying Kung Fu pic.twitter.com/ziEuiiKWn7

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 4, 2025

It’s significantly humorous that Optimus can be teleoperated in Miami at an occasion known as “The Way forward for Autonomy Visualized.” Constructing autonomous robots that may work with out human intervention is extremely troublesome. However there are corporations like Figure which might be miles forward of Tesla in relation to this type of autonomy.

One commenter on X poked enjoyable on the Artwork Basel mishap and sarcastically commented that they weren’t nervous. They insisted Musk would absolutely determine tips on how to ship a billion robots by next year: “I’m unsure the place @elonmusk goes to seek out sufficient teleoperator although, because the robotaxi’s nonetheless want an equal variety of Security Drivers… Its gunna be a tough yr.”

That’s the opposite factor, in fact. Musk promised autonomous taxis known as Robotaxi (to not be confused with the extra superior and imaginary Cybercab) can be working by now. However the Robotaxi service that’s presently working in Texas nonetheless has a human babysitter.

Musk hasn’t fairly promised to supply a billion robots by 2026. He’s mentioned that Tesla can be producing 1 million humanoid robots by 2030 and insists there can be a billion humanoid robots on this planet by 2040. The Tesla CEO is promising fairly a bit greater than appears sensible for the close to future, whether or not it’s Optimus, the Robotaxi, or the Cybercab.

One other video from the Miami occasion exhibits an Optimus robotic handing out water. After the particular person filming grabs their water, they hand it again to Optimus. The particular person desires Optimus to set down the water, presumably to see it do extra actions. However Optimus is initially reluctant to take action. It’s unclear why, however it might need one thing to do with the video that’s presently going viral. It appears probably that the operator might battle to see under them, and setting the water again down on the desk may trigger them to knock issues over.

Tesla’s Optimus was noticed internet hosting in Miami right now.🥂

The interplay with visitors appears extremely easy and pure.🤖👋 https://t.co/n85OaSa0R4 pic.twitter.com/oskYB2E7CV

— RoboHub🤖 (@XRoboHub) December 7, 2025

Even individuals who didn’t see Optimus fall over appeared considerably dissatisfied by the occasion. One attendee posted that they have been expecting a “deeper dive” into how Tesla Imaginative and prescient works, although they in any other case appeared glad.

The viral video out of Miami can also be inspiring fairly a couple of jokes on social media websites like Bluesky.

We are able to’t say that sci-fi films didn’t warn us. This scene from Robocop 2 involves thoughts.

Musk has wager the way forward for Tesla on AI and humanoid robots. And he famously promised that his robots would sooner or later be babysitting your kids. But when we’re practically two years out from the faux laundry-folding video and Optimus nonetheless can’t hand out a bottle of water autonomously, it makes you surprise how rapidly he can ship humanoid robots to the plenty.