Elon Musk unveiled plans for a human-like robot - but the first prototype was just a guy dancing in a bodysuit

• Elon Musk showcased Tesla's plans for a new humanoid robot on Thursday.
• The Tesla CEO presented a prototype of the robot -- a human dancing in a skin-tight bodysuit.
• Musk says the real deal will have important implications for the way companies and individuals use and view labor.

Elon Musk may have plans for the $4 to revolutionize the labor economy, but for now, it's just an actor dancing wildly in a bodysuit.

Elon Musk unveiled a new robotics project, the Tesla Bot, during the company's AI event on Thursday. It will be built with $4 in human form, Musk said.

In what was posed to be a dramatic unveiling of potentially game-changing artificial intelligence technology, the Tesla Bot's introduction to the world was casual and jokey. The presentation began with sleek close-up visuals of the robot's humanlike appearance, with the Tesla name emboldened on its chest. By the end, a real person dressed in a white bodysuit and black mask - nearly, but oddly identical to the look of the actual robot - walked onstage and started gyrating to EDM synth music.

The Tesla CEO, who watched from the sidelines for less than a minute, essentially cut the dance short and chuckled as he retook center stage.

"Unlike [the Dojo supercomputer], that was not real," Musk admitted nonchalantly, fully realizing the joke, "The Tesla Bot will be real."

The robot, which will measure 5 ft. 8 in. and weigh only 125 pounds, is meant to outsource both menial and dangerous tasks. Musk, who has $4 touted the robot's intentional inferiority to humans, designed to be easily overpowered and outperformed by $4. But he also noted how he wants it to reshape the economy.

"At the foundation, [the economy] is labor. So what happens if there was no shortage in labor?" Musk said, mentioning a possible future where "physical work will be a choice."

"It's why I think, long-term, there needs to be universal basic income," Musk casually added. "But not right now because this robot doesn't work."

Though this "prototype" may have been a man in costume, the company expects to have a working prototype in 2022.