Elon Musk’s vision of humanoid robot is ‘pure fantasy thinking’, says MIT roboticist

As billions of dollars continue to flow into humanoid robot startups, a veteran MIT roboticist is casting serious doubt on the vision promoted by Elon Musk. 

Rodney Brooks, a longtime robotics researcher and cofounder of iRobot, has argued that the idea of humanoid robots becoming general-purpose assistants is deeply unrealistic with today’s technology.

In a recent blog post, Brooks said the belief that humanoid machines will soon match human dexterity reflects “pure fantasy thinking.” 

He explained that coordination and touch remain enormous technical hurdles that money alone cannot solve. 

Brooks also criticised current training methods used by companies such as Tesla and Figure, which rely heavily on videos of humans performing tasks. 

While artificial intelligence (AI) has advanced rapidly in areas like speech and vision, Brooks noted that there is no equivalent body of data for touch and physical manipulation, making meaningful progress far slower than investors expect.

He suggested that redirecting even a fraction of current venture capital funding toward university research could yield better long-term results. 

Brooks’ comments come as Tesla plans to sell its Optimus robots by 2026 and rival startup Figure boasts a multibillion-dollar valuation.

Brooks believes successful robots will not closely resemble humans. Instead, future machines may use wheels, multiple arms, or unconventional designs.