In the end-to-end era, driving is evolving from a specialized system into a sub-skill of a general-purpose model.
With the same world model, driving, carrying boxes, and folding clothes are different outputs.
When that day truly comes, whether you put humans or objects into the vehicle won’t matter—it’s the model that matters, not the carrier.
Right now, for Optimus to learn to drive, it’s likely that storytelling comes before engineering.
Tesla’s robotaxi has been painting a picture for years without reaching mass production.
Learning to drive for humanoids is mostly for the capital markets—it hasn’t reached a road-safety milestone yet.
With the same world model, driving, carrying boxes, and folding clothes are different outputs.
When that day truly comes, whether you put humans or objects into the vehicle won’t matter—it’s the model that matters, not the carrier.
Right now, for Optimus to learn to drive, it’s likely that storytelling comes before engineering.
Tesla’s robotaxi has been painting a picture for years without reaching mass production.
Learning to drive for humanoids is mostly for the capital markets—it hasn’t reached a road-safety milestone yet.