Elon Musk wants to launch a humanoid robot prototype next year, designed to do “boring, repetitious and dangerous” work so humans don't have to.
Dubbed the “Tesla Bot”, the company's billionaire chief executive believes the idea will revolutionise the way we live.
But he cooled fears of a robot take-over saying people will be able to 'overpower and outrun it easily'.
Standing at about 5ft 8in tall and weighing 125 pounds, Musk says it will be able to pick up essentials from shops.
The creation will also be able to help to fix cars with a spanner.
Speaking at Tesla’s AI Day event, Musk said the robot could have a big impact across the world.
Would you be comfy with a robot doing all your boring chores? Let us know in the comments
He says it could even perform helpful tasks like bending over to pick something up.
“Tesla is arguably the world’s biggest robotics company,” the South African entrepreneur said. “Our cars are basically semi-sentient robots on wheels.
"It kind of makes sense to put that technology on a humanoid form. We think we'll probably have a prototype sometime early next year.
"It's intended to be friendly, of course, navigate through a world built for humans, and eliminate boring, repetitive, dangerous tasks."
He said the robot could have “profound implications for the economy” and said it was crucial that the new machine was not “super expensive”.
The mega-rich tycoon described it as an "extension" of Tesla’s work on self-driving cars.
The company's stated mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
“Develop the next generation of automation, including a general purpose, bi-pedal, humanoid robot capable of performing tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring,” says a job posting on its website.
“We’re seeking mechanical, electrical, controls and software engineers to help us leverage our AI expertise beyond our vehicle fleet.”
The big announcement comes after the US government opened a formal investigation into Tesla’s driver-assistance system known after a series of collisions with parked emergency vehicles.
On Monday, it was confirmed Tesla’s driver-assistance system would be probed.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said 17 people were injured and one was killed.
“Most incidents took place after dark and the crash scenes encountered included scene control measures such as first responder vehicle lights, flares, an illuminated arrow board, and road cones,” the agency said.
“NHTSA reminds the public that no commercially available motor vehicles today are capable of driving themselves.
“Every available vehicle requires a human driver to be in control at all times, and all state laws hold human drivers responsible for operation of their vehicles.”
Earlier this month, Tesla tweeted that “a Tesla with Autopilot engaged experienced 0.2 accidents per million miles driven, while the US average was 9x higher”.
