Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, made a public appearance in Times Square on Monday, handing out candy to passersby as part of a demonstration of its evolving capabilities. The event, held in front of the Nasdaq building, showcased two of Tesla’s futuristic projects: the Cybercab, a fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals, and the Optimus robot, still in development. During the demonstration, Optimus picked up small red and yellow bags from a table and distributed them to onlookers. The bags contained gummies, according to Rebecca Quick, co-anchor of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” who was on-site. Quick noted that the robot dropped a few bags on occasion but quickly retrieved them and continued the task. Robyn Denholm, Tesla’s board chair and interviewee during the segment, praised the robot’s dexterity, recalling her time in the lab where Optimus was seen folding laundry. She emphasized the progress the robot has made in performing complex, real-world tasks. At the Times Square event, Optimus appeared to be connected to a power source via a cable at its shoulders, indicating it was not operating on battery alone. This is not the robot’s first public outing with candy—Optimus previously assisted at Tesla’s internal “Frunk or Treat” employee event. In earlier demos, Tesla’s Optimus robots were operated remotely using motion-capture suits and virtual reality headsets, a method known as teleoperation. However, in June, insiders told Business Insider that Tesla had shifted its strategy to a “vision-only” approach. Instead of relying on human operators, the company began training the robot by recording video footage of people performing tasks, allowing Optimus to learn through observation. This shift marks a significant step toward autonomy. On the company’s third-quarter earnings call, CEO Elon Musk claimed that Optimus was not tele-operated during its appearance at the premiere of “Tron: Ares,” where it was seen performing martial arts moves alongside actor Jared Leto. Musk has repeatedly highlighted Optimus as central to Tesla’s long-term vision. He predicted that 80% of Tesla’s future value could come from the robot, with potential revenue exceeding $10 trillion. “Optimus at scale is the infinite money glitch,” Musk said, arguing that embodied AI—robots that interact physically with the world—offers limitless productivity gains compared to AI that only enhances human work.