Everyone loves Elon Musk, but everyone also gets fooled by him.

On October 11 (local time, October 10, 10 PM), Tesla held the "We Robot" event at a Warner Bros. movie studio lot. Many expected this event to bring surprises comparable to the grand AI DAY three years ago.

Indeed, the initial tone of the event met these expectations.

As usual, Musk arrived late, and the official event didn't start until nearly an hour after the scheduled time. Musk tweeted that an emergency medical situation had delayed the event, confirming Tesla's reputation for delivering "great things that are worth the wait."

Musk's grand entrance raised expectations even further as he arrived in Tesla's Robotaxi model, the Cybercab:

Musk arrives in the Cybercab

Tesla's Robotaxi, which has been delayed for years, finally made its public debut, equipped with fully autonomous driving capability (FSD) without steering wheel, pedals, or rearview mirrors. This "triple-free" product sent the tech enthusiasts into a frenzy:

The Cybercab attracts significant attention

Another product that stole the show was the Robovan, an autonomous cargo van, which made a dynamic entrance, transporting people into a sci-fi era:

Robovan's dynamic entrance

Tesla's robot, Optimus, was also present, taking on roles such as dancer and waiter, demonstrating Musk's vision of the future more convincingly than previous clumsy demonstrations.

Optimus setting the mood

Everything seemed promising, but the show entered dead time after less than half an hour, with no hardcore technical sharing, only a restless crowd.

The futuristic products showcased had a "future" release date, turning Musk's grand promises into empty pies, like stale pastries left over from years ago...

Capital doesn't eat stale pastries. After the event, Tesla's share price opened at $220.13 per share on October 11 (local time, October 11 morning), down over 7% from the previous close.

01 Wait for Tesla's Robotaxi

What form will Tesla's Robotaxi take? This question has intrigued the public since 2020. After several delays, the event provided some clues.

The vehicle that will serve as the Robotaxi, the Cybercab, was unveiled.

From Musk's remarks and leaked images of the cabin, the interior only contains a large screen and seats, with no steering wheel or pedals.

Interior of the Cybercab

The exterior design features no rearview mirrors, gull-wing doors, a streamlined silhouette, and elements reminiscent of Tesla's existing mass-produced vehicles.

Exterior of the Cybercab

The absence of a steering wheel, pedals, and rearview mirrors indicates that the vehicle will eventually be equipped with Level 4 (L4) fully autonomous driving capability (FSD), eliminating human supervision. Musk confirmed this at the event.

However, the FSD without human supervision is still a promise for the future.

Musk said that unsupervised FSD is expected to launch in Texas and California next year. However, Tesla needs to communicate with government regulators before that, and it's also in contact with regulators outside the US.

This means uncertainty remains, and given Musk's history of delays, it's best to wait and see.

Regarding the Cybercab, Musk expressed hope for large-scale deployment by 2027, with a projected cost of $30,000 (less than RMB 200,000).

All this hinges on the successful rollout of unsupervised FSD. Musk didn't provide a clear answer on how Robotaxi operations will work, repeating ideas from years ago.

Musk believes that personal vehicles are underutilized, and autonomous driving can significantly increase their value by creating value during idle time.

In terms of fleet management, Musk briefly mentioned a platform-based approach where individual vehicles are integrated for scheduling, with a one-to-many management system akin to "herding sheep."

Maintenance will be highly automated, with self-cleaning and wireless charging reducing ground crew costs.

Automated daily maintenance

Musk projects Cybercab's operating cost at $1 per mile initially, gradually decreasing to $0.20 per mile with scale.

02 Public Transportation and Robots

Beyond private transportation with the Robotaxi, Musk introduced a new concept for public transportation: the Robovan.

It's a futuristic yet familiar-looking design:

Robovan

The interior also lacks a steering wheel, featuring only seats and a large screen, capable of carrying both passengers and cargo, with a capacity of 20 people:

Interior of the Robovan

Given its design, the Robovan will also run on fully autonomous FSD, with an operating cost projected by Musk to be as low as 5-10 cents per mile.

That's all we know about this vehicle for now; it's unclear when it will become a reality.

An even bigger surprise came from Tesla's robot, Optimus, which demonstrated significantly more flexibility and stability than before, indicating significant progress:

Optimus walking on stage

At the event, Optimus even donned a cowboy hat to serve as a waiter, interacting with the audience.

Optimus as a waiter

Optimus's capabilities are highly advanced, surpassing other embodied AI products on the market.

Musk said that significant progress has been made in the Optimus project, and he believes the cost of large-scale deployment could be as low as $20,000 to $30,000 per unit.

03 An Abrupt End

Traditionally, after showcasing futuristic technologies, Tesla would dive into hardcore technical presentations, setting the tone for the next technological era and attracting industry attention and research.

This was true for Dojo, neural networks, and end-to-end large models.

These presentations also served as Musk's evidence for realizing his futuristic visions.

But this time, there was none of that.

After painting the future, Musk simply waved his hand and said, "Let's party!"

The abrupt end caught netizens off guard, who had just been shouting, "Elon Musk is amazing! The robots are so cool!"

The next moment: Is that it?

So we waited almost an hour for you to come on stage for just 20 minutes and dismiss hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide?

Before the event, Musk painted a picture of his vision of the future, but after watching, the impression was:

The future seems to have arrived, yet it hasn't. -END-