Imagine a world where prisons are abolished—not because crime has disappeared, but because Elon Musk proposes to follow released prisoners everywhere with a robot. That’s not science fiction: during a Tesla shareholder meeting, Musk floated a chilling alternative to traditional incarceration.
At Tesla’s recent annual shareholder meeting, Musk suggested that instead of caging criminals, society could offer them a “more humane form of containment”: giving them free Optimus robots that follow them around, preventing crime in real-time.
“You now get a free Optimus … it’s just gonna follow you around and stop you from doing crime … you don’t have to put people in prisons,” he said.
In his view, this robotic bodyguard would act as a constant monitor, intervening when the person is about to commit a crime. “It’s just gonna stop you from committing crime … that’s really it,” Musk said.
Why This Idea Is More Than Just a Tech Fantasy
- Surveillance turned up to 11: The robot would need “full surveillance abilities” — meaning vision, behavioral prediction, possibly even combat ability to prevent wrongdoing.
- Predictive policing on steroids: For this to work, Optimus would have to predict human behavior, relentlessly “learn” when someone is about to offend, and intervene. That’s not just reactive policing — it’s pre-emptive control.
- Cost & control: Musk suggests these robots would be “free”—but who pays? The government? Taxpayers? And Musk hints that he’d want control over this robotic “army.”
- Libertarian hypocrisy: Musk has often painted himself as a libertarian, but this plan is deeply authoritarian: mass state surveillance, constant monitoring—hardly small government.
This isn’t an isolated idea. It’s part of Musk’s broader vision for Tesla as not just a car company but an AI and robotics powerhouse. He’s made no secret of wanting to scale up his “Optimus” robot army.
Musk’s proposal is riddled with red flags. By handing out robots that follow people everywhere, Tesla could quietly build a nationwide surveillance grid. What begins with “criminals” could easily expand to anyone authorities decide needs monitoring—raising the question of who ultimately decides who gets a stalker-bot.
The threat goes beyond surveillance. Musk envisions robots that intervene, not just observe. A machine that can physically stop a person from committing a crime can just as easily be used to suppress dissent, protests, and nonconformity. Under the guise of safety, behavioral control becomes automated.
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| Elon Musk is planning to build an army of 1 million humanoid AI Optimus robots |
To function, these robots would need immense data: location, movement, interactions, even biometrics. Every moment becomes another input for Tesla’s growing AI empire. The system doesn’t just watch society—it harvests it.
Power concentration is another concern. Centralizing both robot production and the authority to track individuals in the hands of one billionaire is a nightmare scenario for any free society.
Skeptics may wave this off as Musk’s exaggeration, especially since Optimus isn’t fully ready. But even a partial rollout could change the world as we know it. A small pilot program pitched as “reducing recidivism” could quietly expand to at-risk youth, political agitators, or anyone deemed problematic. Once robotic surveillance gains legitimacy in criminal justice, it will inevitably spill into everyday life.
On paper, Musk’s idea sounds humane: free prisoners, restore their lives. But if that “freedom” comes at the cost of total visibility and obedience to an AI guardian that never blinks, we must ask: are they being liberated—or simply transferred into a more subtle, more acceptable form of captivity?