Tesla's plan to put a can-do-anything-for-you humanoid on the market still looks a long way off. Why it matters: CEO Elon Musk said last week at the company's "We, Robot" event that the Tesla Optimus humanoid "will be the biggest product ever of any kind.

Tesla's main announcement coming from the company's recent "We, Robot" event was the Robotax i (or the CyberCab, we're still not sure about the name). But perhaps the biggest impression was made by Tesla's updated Optimus robots, which freely walked among the crowd, talked to guests, served drinks, played games, and danced.

During Tesla’s “We, Robot” event last week, which TechCrunch covered late into the night, sources on the ground sent me a handful of videos of the

Tesla’s latest innovation, the Tesla Optimus Robot, made its debut inside a stunning $6.85 million home in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Mandeville Canyon.

Musk first announced Tesla’s humanoid robot by bringing what was very clearly a person in a robot suit on stage, so it’s no surprise that the Optimuses (Optimi? Optimodes?) at

Optimus is Tesla’s new intelligent robot, a personal assistant that Elon Musk says is comparable to the most popular robots in the world, R2-D2 and C-3PO.

Tesla workers are already hailing robotaxis as part of a test program, Musk says. But a full-blown service requires regulatory approval and could face challenges.

In California, Tesla will face an uphill climb in securing the needed permits to offer fully autonomous rides to paying customers.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday said the electric vehicle maker will roll out driverless ride-hailing services to the public in California and Texas next year, a claim likely to face significant regulatory and technical challenges.