Tesla wants you to teach its humanoid robot how to move like a human

The Elon Musk-owned company has a peculiar job for anyone interested in training its humanoid robots.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk first revealed that the company is building humanoid robots in 2021. (Image credit: Tesla/Handout)

Elon Musk-owned Tesla is hiring people to wear motion capture suits and virtual reality (VR) headsets in order to train its humanoid robot, Optimus. In the past year, the electric car manufacturer has recruited over 50 people as “Data Collection Operators”, according to a report by Business Insider.

To be hired for the role, applicants reportedly need to be between 5’7″ and 5’11” tall. They must also be able to tolerate the disorientation caused by wearing a VR headset for seven hours or more. It pays around $25-$48 per hour along with bonuses and additional benefits such as stocks.

The job essentially requires the newly hired Data Collection Operators to put on motion capture suits and walk test routes as well as perform other tasks such as carrying 30-pound weights, in order to generate data for further analysis.

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Also Read | Elon Musk says rise of AI will make jobs ‘optional’ as AI robots will provide most services

Tesla CEO Elon Musk first revealed that they would be developing humanoid robots during the company’s AI Day event back in 2021. The next year, Musk gave the public its first actual look of the bipedal robot prototype named Bumblebee, which was able to walk onstage and wave to the crowd. A demo video showed that it can pick up and move boxes in an office environment.

Earlier this year, Musk announced that two Optimus robots were already working autonomously at one of Tesla’s factories. In July, he posted on X that “Tesla will have genuinely useful humanoid robots in low production for Tesla internal use next year and, hopefully, high production for other companies in 2026.”

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