Tesla has started producing its first Optimus humanoid robots. However, Elon Musk expects it to take around a year to reach full production capacity and begin deliveries to external customers. During the third-quarter 2026 financial results presentation, the CEO confirmed “initial production on a high-volume line”.
Tesla also stated in its Q3 shareholder document that the robots coming from this line are the first Optimus units built to production standards, marking an important step beyond earlier prototypes and units used internally for development.
Optimus enters production in Fremont
The new Optimus production line occupies part of the space freed up after the Model S and Model X lines in Fremont were dismantled. Tesla completed that work in just 46 days during the summer. The line now being ramped up is designed for a capacity of around one million robots per year. Tesla also plans an even larger facility at Gigafactory Texas, with potential capacity of ten million units per year.
Initial production will use Optimus Gen 3, designed as the first model intended for large-scale manufacturing. However, Tesla plans to switch to the next generation, Optimus Gen 4, when Texas production reaches scale. According to the CEO, growth will follow a typical S-curve: relatively slow and uneven initially, partly because the project is still evolving.
When will the first Optimus robots reach customers?
According to Musk, Tesla should be able to resolve the main remaining issues concerning artificial intelligence, electromechanical systems, reliability and durability by the end of 2027. The first customers are expected to be mainly industrial businesses, where the robot could perform repetitive, hazardous or continuously required tasks.
Home use would follow later, once production is high enough for Tesla to also serve consumers. Musk remains particularly optimistic about the project, describing Optimus as a product that could become the most important ever made.
A new video could arrive soon
Another significant development could come in the next few months. Musk said Tesla might release a new Optimus video within one or two months. This time, the aim would be to show something more meaningful than a pre-prepared demonstration: the robot would carry out tasks that had not been fully programmed in advance, offering a more concrete demonstration of its AI capabilities.
Meanwhile, information leaked in recent weeks has already offered a glimpse of the production version’s design. Optimus Gen 3 is expected to have a cleaner appearance, new joint covers and more human-like hands with 22 degrees of freedom.
Optimus also awaits the new AI5 chip
One of the next major upgrades concerns artificial intelligence. Tesla plans to integrate its new AI5 chip into Optimus, which Musk said could happen around April 2027. AI5 is expected to offer around five times the computing capacity of a complete system based on two AI4 chips. Greater processing power will be particularly important for Optimus, which must manage far more degrees of freedom than are needed to control a Tesla car.
The AI5 chip has already entered trial production at Samsung’s Texas facility, while mass production is planned for next year.
The commercial debut is still some way off
The start of production is undoubtedly an important step for Tesla and Optimus, but does not mean the robot will soon be available to buy. If Musk’s timeline is met, the first Optimus robots for external customers should arrive towards the end of 2027, initially for industrial applications.
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