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In 1973, it took a robot 45 seconds to take one step.
This year, one ran 100 meters in 8.64 seconds. Faster than Usain Bolt's world record.
That's how it happens.
Gradually, then suddenly.
So I made a music video about the rise of the robots, from da Vinci's knight to a city on Mars.
Sovey retweeted
In 1973, it took a robot 45 seconds to take one step.
This year, one ran 100 meters in 8.64 seconds. Faster than Usain Bolt's world record.
That's how it happens.
Gradually, then suddenly.
So I made a music video about the rise of the robots, from da Vinci's knight to a city on Mars.
VIEWER'S GUIDE
Preferred viewing method: widescreen on your phone, or on a computer monitor.
Every number in this video has a source, and every year is tagged FACT, FORECAST or SCENARIO so you always know which is which.
Watch the frame. It starts small and boxy, and the film look changes with each era: candlelight, Kodachrome, 70s film, HD. On the first "suddenly" it snaps to full screen.
Highlights:
0:05 Blink and you miss it: one frame is the Mars city, right before the tape rewinds to 1495.
0:10 Leonardo da Vinci, 1495. Only fragments of his mechanical knight drawings survive. A working one was built from them in 2002.
0:12 1939 World's Fair. Elektro "walked" on hidden wheels. Ava notices.
0:14 1973, WABOT-1. One step took 45 seconds. Its foot doesn't land until Ava is already gone.
0:17 2017. The first humanoid backflip (Guinness).
0:19 2021. Optimus was a guy in a suit. Watch the tag flip from ROBOT to HUMAN.
0:25 "Pure fantasy" is a real quote from iRobot co-founder Rodney Brooks, Sept 2025.
0:34 The yellow line along the bottom is real data: the fastest humanoid on two legs. Flat for 500 years, then off the chart.
0:37 Meet 0001, the robot with the yellow stencil on its shoulder. Same robot all the way to the end.
0:37 The chant is the math. 20 doublings is 1,048,576. 30 doublings is 1,073,741,824.
0:53 "Video in, controls out" is Tesla's own description of how Optimus learns.
1:00 The robot half marathon. 2025: 2:40:42, and only 6 of 21 robots finished. 2026: 50:26, under the human record of 57:20. It still hit a barricade.
1:10 The shirt it couldn't fold on its own in 2024 (0:24, NOT YET), it folds in 2030.
1:13 55 cents an hour: a $20,000 robot working 20 hours a day for 5 years. Ava pays it in two quarters and a nickel.
1:22 Grandma in Seoul. South Korea had 0.80 births per woman in 2025. Replacement is 2.1.
1:27 The lily pond. Doubling every day, it's only half full on day 29.
1:37 The arrivals board: 2030 to 2050 flip to ARRIVED. 2060 and Mars are still waiting.
1:48 A billion humanoids by 2050 is Morgan Stanley's forecast.
1:56 Bank of America forecasts 3 billion by 2060, about twice the cars on Earth today.
2:00 On the crosswalk, one in three is a robot. And the robot gets the last word.
2:02 The one real photo in the video: NASA's Apollo 11 bootprint, July 20, 1969. Then the dust turns red.
2:10 From Mars, Earth is a bright evening star, not a big blue ball.
2:11 Sunsets on Mars really are blue.
2:18 Mars gravity is 38% of Earth's, so they hang in the air a beat too long.
2:20 Two trails of footprints: boots and robot feet, side by side.
2:23 The title comes from Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926): "How did you go bankrupt?" "Two ways. Gradually and then suddenly."
Sovey retweeted
I took seven days off X and left the country. I think it's important to give other governments a chance to deal with me.
Here's what I accomplished:
1. Sold a timeshare to the man trying to sell me one.
2. Bought a ceremonial sword. Became considerably less open to feedback.
3. Declared myself a national treasure at customs. They still made me use the regular line.
4. Hired a bodyguard to follow me around and say, "She's answered that."
5. Bought a fake engagement ring to discourage conversation. Spent the rest of the trip explaining what he does for work to my family.
6. Sent a drink to myself from across the room.
7. Signed a hotel guestbook with "As discussed, I accept your surrender."
8. Learned to say "this is unacceptable" in four languages.
9. Tried to bribe a customs dog with a compliment. He chose his career.
10. Bought a whistle. Found out how little authority people need to see before they start moving.
11. Wore sunglasses to breakfast so nobody could tell who I was disappointed in.
12. Became the press secretary. We parted ways based on creative differences.
13. Test drove Elon's new Roadster. It flipped. I didn't.
Next time I'm taking a shorter break.
I cannot keep doing this to our allies.
I took seven days off X and left the country. I think it's important to give other governments a chance to deal with me.
Here's what I accomplished:
1. Sold a timeshare to the man trying to sell me one.
2. Bought a ceremonial sword. Became considerably less open to feedback.
3. Declared myself a national treasure at customs. They still made me use the regular line.
4. Hired a bodyguard to follow me around and say, "She's answered that."
5. Bought a fake engagement ring to discourage conversation. Spent the rest of the trip explaining what he does for work to my family.
6. Sent a drink to myself from across the room.
7. Signed a hotel guestbook with "As discussed, I accept your surrender."
8. Learned to say "this is unacceptable" in four languages.
9. Tried to bribe a customs dog with a compliment. He chose his career.
10. Bought a whistle. Found out how little authority people need to see before they start moving.
11. Wore sunglasses to breakfast so nobody could tell who I was disappointed in.
12. Became the press secretary. We parted ways based on creative differences.
13. Test drove Elon's new Roadster. It flipped. I didn't.
Next time I'm taking a shorter break.
I cannot keep doing this to our allies.
Sovey retweeted
On December 1, Elon and SpaceX officially start building Terafab, the biggest building in human history.
Without it, there's no city on Mars.
A 100 million square foot chip factory in Grimes County, Texas (near College Station), more than 5 times the size of the largest building on Earth today.
- At least 2.5 miles long
- Nearly 3 Central Parks under one roof
- Brings its own power, off the Texas grid
- Every chip factory on Earth combined makes about 2% of what Elon needs
- Each year's chips will need twice the power of the entire US
- Chips for 1 billion Optimus robots, plus Cybercab, Grok and self-driving Teslas
- About 80% of the chips go to space
- The Moon: a city first, plus a magnetic rail that launches AI satellites into deep space
- Mars: robots land first to build, then people, in roughly 5 to 7 years by Elon's count
No chips, no robots. No robots, no city on Mars.
Most people would shrink the plan to fit the supply chain. Elon builds his own.
The next step to Mars isn't a rocket. It's a factory in Texas.
馃 Made with AI
On December 1, Elon and SpaceX officially start building Terafab, the biggest building in human history.
Without it, there's no city on Mars.
A 100 million square foot chip factory in Grimes County, Texas (near College Station), more than 5 times the size of the largest building on Earth today.
- At least 2.5 miles long
- Nearly 3 Central Parks under one roof
- Brings its own power, off the Texas grid
- Every chip factory on Earth combined makes about 2% of what Elon needs
- Each year's chips will need twice the power of the entire US
- Chips for 1 billion Optimus robots, plus Cybercab, Grok and self-driving Teslas
- About 80% of the chips go to space
- The Moon: a city first, plus a magnetic rail that launches AI satellites into deep space
- Mars: robots land first to build, then people, in roughly 5 to 7 years by Elon's count
No chips, no robots. No robots, no city on Mars.
Most people would shrink the plan to fit the supply chain. Elon builds his own.
The next step to Mars isn't a rocket. It's a factory in Texas.
馃 Made with AI
A little gratitude tonight.
Thank you to my friends who show up, cheer me on, help me out, and have stuck with me as my content has changed.
It means more than you know.
Real life is hard enough. I鈥檓 here to try to make you smile and give you a little escape, even for a minute.
And thank you to @allegrajacchia and @XCreators program for making it all possible.
Okay, enough being serious tonight.
Back to my very unserious posts!