Elon Musk aims to show off a new humanoid robot Friday at a Tesla artificial intelligence event, part of the chief executive’s effort to shape public perception of the company as more than an electric-vehicle maker.
Mr. Musk first laid out the vision for the robot, called Optimus, little more than a year ago at Tesla’s first-ever AI day. At the time, a dancer in a costume appeared onstage. This time, Mr. Musk has said he wants a prototype to be at the gathering that is scheduled to unfold from 5 p.m. local time in Palo Alto, Calif.