‘[They] will be long gone and most conveniently forgotten’

A high-profile robotics expert thinks Elon Musk’s AI ambitions are a pipe dream, according to Fortune.

Rodney Brooks was the co-founder of iRobot, the creator of the Roomba home robot vacuum. He recently wrote that it will be virtually impossible for robots to fulfill the same roles as people, despite Tesla’s stated goal of robots doing so with its Optimus product.

“In my opinion, to believe this will happen anytime within decades is pure fantasy,” Brooks wrote on his personal blog. “But many are predicting it will happen within two years, and the more conservative ‘hypenotists’ believe it will have a significant economic impact within five years.”

One major bottleneck, according to Brooks, is the wide difference in touch sensitivity between humans and current robots. The difference in dexterity, he argues, also makes it a steep challenge for humanoid robots trying to fill human shoes. As one might expect from the former Chief Technical Officer behind Roomba, he still sees a use for specialized robots in a wide range of form factors.

Despite all his predictions, Brooks’ iRobot filed for bankruptcy in December.

While AI offers many benefits — such as robots that can cook and clean for us — the disadvantages are also significant. Even the prospect of mainstream robot workers has serious economic implications, and the problems don’t end there.

These robots are powered by artificial intelligence models that require vast amounts of energy to build. That energy produces atmospheric pollution when it is generated by coal, oil or gas. Early indications show that the explosion of AI in all its forms, robotics, text, images and video, is having a significant impact on pollution.

In addition to Tesla’s challenges with Optimus so far, it is also dealing with struggling sales numbers in 2025 and legal battles over its self-driving cars.

Regardless of the technical feasibility of humanoid robots, Brooks was particularly cynical about the investment environment around this growing industry and made bold predictions about its future.

“A lot of money will have disappeared, spent trying to squeeze performance, any performance, out of today’s humanoid robots,” he said in his blog. “But those robots will be long gone and most conveniently forgotten.”

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