# Reflections on Tesla AI Day and Our Mission Progress

Tesla’s AI Day was a noteworthy event for the entire AI and robotics industry. After watching, I shared my insights on what was shown, the state of the industry, and the work Sanctuary is doing in a quarterly update to employees. I’m sharing the email publicly so everyone can join me in celebrating this extraordinary time as Sanctuary makes progress towards our mission to create the world’s first human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots.

This past Friday, Tesla hosted their highly-anticipated AI Day event. During Elon Musk’s presentation, one point was clearly made: Tesla is making a significant investment in general-purpose robots. The demand for general-purpose robots is only intensifying and the market potential is gigantic, or in his words: “bigger than the automotive industry”. Our industry is leading an innovation revolution that will change everything. We are thrilled to be in the heart of this exciting time with you and want to share some key takeaways from Tesla AI Day:

- The need for general-purpose robots to do work  
  
  _With_ [_birth rates declining_](https://www.wsj.com/articles/births-in-u-s-drop-to-levels-not-seen-since-1979-11620187260) _,_ [_populations aging_](https://www.wsj.com/articles/global-population-is-about-to-hit-8-billionand-some-argue-it-is-near-its-peak-11660252977) _, and_ [_labor shortages worsening_](https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage) _, there is a dire need to fill gaps in the workforce_

- The need for general-purpose robots to have a human-like “brain”
  
  _The ability to independently think and act is critical for creating a general-purpose robot that can truly help solve labor and work challenges_

- The importance of the human form
  
  _The world is designed for people; general-purpose robots need to have our form so they can use the same tools and devices we can_

- The importance of human-like dexterous hands
  
  [_Dexterous hands are required for 99% of all work_](https://www.bls.gov/ors/factsheet/gross-and-fine-manipulation.htm)

- The impact of this technology to productivity and the economy
  
  _In order to sustain our way of life, general-purpose robots are needed to maintain business operations and bolster the economy_

- The importance of trust in AI and Robotics
  
  _Sanctuary has been creating our technology with_ [_trust and safety as a development cornerstone_](https://sanctuary.ai/resources/news/trust-in-ai-and-robotics/) _; our goal is to help everyone work more safely, efficiently, and sustainably_

- The importance of having a path to mass-manufacturing
  
  _It’s one thing to create a prototype in a lab, it’s another thing entirely to mass-manufacture that technology. Sanctuary has already begun plans to scale our technology with industry leaders in mass production of next-generation technology like ours_

- That there is a market for millions of general-purpose robots like this
  
  [_In the U.S. alone, there are more than 10 million unfilled job vacancies_](https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage) _. With the U.S. population making up just under 5% of the world’s population, the global market for general-purpose robots is staggering_

Robots are already working alongside us, but in very specialized forms that pale in comparison to the [groundbreaking technology Sanctuary is delivering](https://sanctuary.ai/resources/news/the-case-for-general-purpose-robots-over-special-purpose-robots/). As it stands, industrial robots–machines that perform a single, repetitive task–only make up for a very small fraction of all the work that needs to be done across the globe because of their limited abilities. The situation may already be reaching crisis-levels in some sectors. We can’t magically create more people, but we can create human-like intelligence in general-purpose robots. Sanctuary has already made great progress in achieving our mission, including highlights such as:

- Formed a world-class team of experts with a serial track record of successes  
- Created a state-of-the-art “brain”: our proprietary cognitive platform  
- Successfully engineered [human-like hands with our form and function](https://youtu.be/cjN9ov_2zJs?t=299)  
- Finalized plans to deploy our technology to customer sites which begin next month  
- [Raised](https://sanctuary.ai/resources/news/sanctuary-cognitive-systems-closes-c-75-5-million-us-58-5-million-series-a-funding/) nearly USD$100+ million in funds in total so far

Earlier this week, one Twitter user [tweeted at Elon the following](https://twitter.com/jasondebolt/status/1576707539915354112): “I’m researching the implications of Tesla Bot and I’m literally experiencing chills throughout my body. Humanoid robots will be, and may always be, the largest market in the world by far.” Elon tweeted the following in reply: “That is my assessment too”.

I am so proud of the amazing work and culture being built at Sanctuary. If you know people who are the best in the world at what they do and who want to work for a company with a bold and meaningful vision for the future, then please refer them to Sanctuary.