Does Optimus Gen 2 and AGI mark the end of the work?

Do those people think, I don't know.

Consider how willing are companies to pay taxes and high salaries to their employees right now, even when they're wildly profitable. Consider how willing they are to drop prices when there's demand for their goods, despite cost of production may be a small fraction of the sale price.

What makes you think that if they get AI and robots, they'd suddenly want to give everything for free? "It won't be for free" you may say. Oh yes, how are you going to pay them, if robots mark "the end of work"? You work for money. If you have no work, you have no money. "But the government will give us money". Where will they get it from? Companies still will not want to pay taxes. And if the government prints money, they lose purchase power.

It's not the end of work. It's the end for 99.999% of humanity. If you can't provide value back, it's checkmate, folks. You're out.

"But I can provide value. I can use an AI to make myself very productive". What does it mean "use an AI"? You'll tell the AI "do the work"? Your boss doesn't need you to tell the AI that. The boss can say it himself. And eventually the AI will tell it to itself.

What exactly useful function can you perform once an AI is smarter than you, and a robot is stronger and faster and more precise than you? You got nothing. You want to push a button that says "AI, do work" and you think a company will pay you money for this? Of course they won't!

A universe in which machines are more useful than humans in a society, has no humans. We may be lucky enough if the machines leave us a spot on Earth to live by ourselves. For old time's sake.