🦾 Why did Tesla build a robot?

Plus: Gandalf surfing in Hawaii, a hilarious keyboard, a $25m T. rex, wild news numbers, a paranoid chart, and more. [View Online]( [The Hustle] Today’s meme was AI-generated by DALL-E 2 using the prompt: “a macro image of Gandalf surfing in Hawaii.” Have other prompt ideas? [Submit them here](. In today’s email: - Optimus: Why Tesla made a robot. - Chart: Productivity paranoia. - Digits: Tomatoes, top songs, and more. - Around the Web: Bad leadership strategies, why we love office shows, a strange jog, and more cool internet finds. 🎧 On the go? [Listen to today’s 10-minute podcast]( to hear Rob and Jacob discuss Tesla’s robot and bright spots for Meta, whose stock is down 20% from where it was… five years ago. The big idea [Tesla Robot]( Zachary Crockett Tesla’s robot, explained For $20k, you could soon have your very own humanoid robot, courtesy of Elon Musk. The Tesla founder [revealed]( Optimus, a robot equipped with some of the same sensors and AI software as Tesla’s cars, at the company’s 2022 AI Day event. Why is Tesla building a robot? The [plan]( is for Tesla to start using Optimus in its own factories, then roll it out to consumers for household applications. Consumer robots aren’t exactly a new idea: - Amazon unveiled Astro, a household robot designed for home monitoring, in 2021 but has yet to release it for mass consumption. - iRobot’s Roomba vacuum is perhaps the most successful consumer robot of all time, a big reason why Amazon [acquired]( the company for $1.7B in August. Besides toys and vacuums, robots have yet to live up to the hype. But Musk is bullish, calling Optimus “the most important product development we’re doing this year,” claiming future applications could include cooking and gardening. But Optimus has a long way to go Musk’s team brought multiple prototypes on stage; one danced and another waved — impressive feats of engineering, but well short of emptying the dishwasher. - Critics [argue]( that Boston Dynamics’ robots are much further along. The company’s humanoid robot, [Atlas](, can do backflips. But Musk claims Tesla’s advantage is that its robots are made for mass production — meaning, if successful, we could soon have an actual robot army on our hands. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Tesla%E2%80%99s+robot%2C+explained%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F10032022-Tesla-robot%3Futm_campaign%3DTesla%2BRobot%26utm_content%3D10032022-Tesla-robot%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( TRENDING [eyeball wearing a hat] Nice: Google Japan released the latest version of its gag keyboard, the Gboard bar. This time, it’s [hilariously long]( and has a multitude of critical uses. SNIPPETS Bruce Willis did not sell his digital likeness to a deepfake firm, his team said, following [reports]( of a “digital twin” deal with Deepcake. Shen the T. rex, a 43-foot-long skeleton from Montana, is [expected]( to sell for up to $25m in the first ever T. rex auction in Asia. Tencent is no longer China’s most valuable company, falling [behind]( liquor behemoth Kweichow Moutai, valued at ~$330B. NASA confirmed Friday that its SLS rocket launch will be [pushed back]( until at least mid-November. Walgreens’ robotic prescription centers, now [serving]( 1.8k stores, could cut costs and allow pharmacists to focus on patient services. Live shopping on TikTok may [launch]( soon in the US. Last year, its Chinese sister app, Douyin, sold 10B+ products via livestreams. Peloton has [agreed]( to sunset specific apparel designs to settle its [lawsuit]( with Lululemon. Smile, Paramount’s new horror flick, made [$22m]( in its opening weekend, the first $20m+ domestic opening since Bullet Train in August. Chart [productivity paranoia]( Singdhi Sokpo Ugh, productivity paranoia? Headlines are still dissecting “quiet quitting,” but now there’s another alliterative term: “productivity paranoia,” referring to bosses who worry that workers aren’t doing their jobs. In a recent [report]( on hybrid work, Microsoft found: - 87% of workers say they’re productive at work… - … While just 12% of leaders say they’re confident that their team is productive - Hybrid supervisors are less trusting than in-person managers (36% to 49%) This lack of trust has led to tracking software and other methods to retain control over remote workers (which [doesn’t work](). Employees not only dislike it, they subvert it. (Remember [mouse jigglers](?) And leaders have since developed what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella [calls]( productivity paranoia, despite findings that both meetings and productivity metrics have increased. Microsoft’s conclusion? Quit the productivity paranoia! Pivot from stressing over whether employees are working enough to helping them prioritize what’s most important. That includes clarifying what to do and what not to do, and rewarding impact over activity. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Ugh%2C+productivity+paranoia%3F%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F10032022-productivity-paranoia%3Futm_campaign%3DTesla%2BRobot%26utm_content%3D10032022-productivity-paranoia%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( Free Resource How to build an ideal customer profile (ICP) Similar to buyer personas which represent individual people, ICPs are the business version of that. Gathering key data points from your best-fit customers (like industry type, employee count, and tech stack) is the dirty work that helps you win. If you want to nail your target market, get started with this [free ICP ebook](. Inside the ICP guide: - Find similarities between your best customers - Build your own ICP with an interactive worksheet - Create a go-to-market strategy - Activate your ICP along the funnel Profile those prospects with ease. Presented by Clearbit and HubSpot. [Build your ICP →]( Numbers Digits: Tomatoes, TikToks, and more 1) US tomato prices [are down 2%]( since the start of 2022 — despite 7% inflation across food generally. The reason being a mishmash of stable inputs, already high prices, and a law regarding Mexican imports. 2) Between April and July, TikTok removed [113.8m videos]( from its platform, ~1% of all videos uploaded. Almost 96% of those were removed before being reported, and 42% were removed automatically. 3) In July and August, the average song in Spotify’s top 200 was there for [39 weeks](. That’s up from an average of 28 in 2019. At fault: Streaming, where each listen leads to more money for the artist and more time on the charts than in the CD era. 4) Last week, Porsche’s parent company Volkswagen took the business public in one of Europe’s biggest ever IPOs. The company issued [911m shares]( (in reference to the car model), and the funding will help Porsche invest in EVs. 5) In announcing a swath of new search features, Google reported that people use Google Lens to answer [8B+ questions]( and translate text in images 1B+ times, across 100+ languages, every month. [Share on Facebook]( [Share on Twitter]( [Send as email to a friend](mailto:?subject=The%20Hustle%20wrote%20something%20I%20think%20you%27ll%20like...%0A&body=Digits%3A+Tomatoes%2C+TikToks%2C+and+more%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Fthehustle.co%2F10032022-Digits%3Futm_campaign%3DTesla%2BRobot%26utm_content%3D10032022-Digits%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Ddaily%0A%0AYou%20can%20subscribe%20with%20my%20link%20here%20to%20get%20the%20latest%20in%20tech%20and%20business%20daily:%0A [View on our website]( AROUND THE WEB 🎧 On this day: In 2014, true crime podcast Serial [debuted](, investigating the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee and the subsequent conviction of her classmate, Adnan Syed. [Last month](, a judge overturned that conviction. 🙅‍♀️ How (not) to: Five leadership [strategies]( not to emulate. 🏢 That’s interesting: Why people are [hooked]( on shows about the office, even if they prefer WFH. 🐑 Aww: Ever go for a jog only to attract a herd of [lost sheep](? Apparently, this bewildered jogger was hoping to lead [her flock]( to nearby pastures. 🧘 Chill out: [Pop]( some bubbles. Meme [AI-generated image of Gandalf surfing in Hawaii] An AI-generated image of “Gandalf surfing in Hawaii.” Submit other ideas [here](. TELL FRIENDS → GET PRIZES Help your friends aboard our growing pirate ship. Share The Hustle Daily to start winning loot. [all prizes]( [Share The Hustle 🤠→]( Or copy this custom referral link: [ Your referral count: 0 How did you like today’s email? Today's email was brought to you by [Jacob Cohen](, [Juliet Bennett Rylah](, and [Rob Litterst](. Editing by: Mark “The editorial robot” Dent. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. [PODCAST]( [JOBS]( [CONTACT US](mailto:news@thehustle.co) [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( [Twitter]( 25 FIRST ST. 2ND FLOOR, CAMBRIDGE, MA 02141, UNITED STATES  +1 888 482 7768 Never want to hear from us again? Break our hearts and [unsubscribe](list=thehustle). [The Hustle logo](