Tesla begins building first production-grade Optimus robots at Fremont

Tesla has begun manufacturing Optimus robots on a high-volume assembly line located inside its Fremont factory, marking the start of commercial production for the humanoid model. In its third-quarter shareholder letter, the company stated that the units coming off this line are the first to meet the quality standards required for a real product. The letter confirmed that the current manufacturing process is suitable for commercial use.

The production line occupies space previously used to build the Model S and Model X vehicles. Tesla converted that vehicle line to a robot assembly setup in 46 days during the spring. The new facility is designed to support an annual output of one million units. Elon Musk indicated on Wednesday’s earnings call that most of the necessary equipment is already installed in Fremont. He projected that weekly output will eventually reach approximately 20,000 robots as the line ramps up.

Musk described the production increase as following an S-curve pattern, noting that the initial growth phase will have a shallow slope. The engineering team is currently refining the robot’s artificial intelligence, electromechanical design, and reliability. Tesla aims to complete this refinement work by the end of next year. Once finished, the company plans to deliver Optimus units to external businesses for roles involving dangerous, repetitive, or around-the-clock tasks.

A central challenge for the company is gathering training data for the robots. Unlike Tesla’s cars, which generate data from millions of vehicles on the road, Optimus lacks a large existing fleet. Musk addressed this gap by describing the creation of an Optimus Academy. This internal program will use between 10,000 and 20,000 robots to practice various tasks. The data generated by these robots will feed into the next version of the model’s AI.

Every unit produced on the Fremont line will serve as a source of this training data. Tesla also plans to upgrade the hardware by installing its AI5 chip into the robots next year. Musk said a new video demonstrating the robot completing tasks driven by AI rather than preprogrammed motions is expected within one or two months. He contrasted this approach with rival demonstrations that rely on scripted routines, arguing those would not perform well in real-world conditions.