Tesla Optimus
Optimus is Tesla's general-purpose, autonomous humanoid robot, built inside Tesla, Inc. and trained with the same AI stack and compute (Cortex) as its self-driving software. Tesla began production on its first-generation high-volume line in Fremont in Q3 2026 and is building a second-generation line at Gigafactory Texas. Tesla's SEC filings say the Bots business is not yet commercialised, and it reports no humanoid revenue or unit sales.
3 humanoid models · 1 deployment on file · researched 2026-11-08
- Headquarters
- Austin, United States
- Founded
- 2021
- Ownership
- Division of Tesla, Inc. · TSLA
- Website
- tesla.com
- Focus
- industrial, home
- Leadership
- Elon Musk CEO, Tesla, Inc. ↗
Ashok Elluswamy Head of Autopilot; took over responsibility for Optimus in June 2025 ↗ - Employees
- 134,785 (2025, all of Tesla, Inc. — no Optimus headcount is published) ↗
- Production
- capacity 1,000,000 a year · 1,000,000/yr is the DESIGN capacity of the first-generation Fremont line, not its output. In the Q3 2026 update, Optimus California is 'Early Ramp' and Optimus Texas is 'Construction'. The Texas second-generation line is 'being designed for long-term annual production capacity of 10 million robots'. No unit counts have been disclosed. ↗
1
Humanoids
Each model as the maker has shown it. Specs are maker-stated; a dash means no source states the figure.
| Model | Status | Announced | Height | Weight | DoF | Payload | Runtime | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimus Gen 3 ↗Tesla calls it 'our first design meant for mass production', with 'major upgrades from version 2.5, including our latest hand design'. Production on the Fremont high-volume lines began in Q3 2026 ('first production-quality bots'). Filings do not name the generation on that line. | Pilot | 2026-01 | — | — | — | — | — | not published |
| Optimus Gen 2 ↗Slimmer body with improved hands (11 hand DoF). A 22-DoF hand was shown in Nov 2024, and a 'version 2.5' followed in 2025. Some public demos were teleoperated. | Prototype | 2023-12 | — | — | — | — | — | not published; Musk estimated an eventual US$20,000–30,000 at the Oct 2024 'We, Robot' event |
| Optimus (Gen 1 prototypes) ↗Concept announced at AI Day on 2021-08-19; first prototypes at AI Day 2022. One walked on stage, and a sleeker one could not yet stand on its own. Planned size from the 2021 presentation: 173 cm, 57 kg. | Prototype | 2022-09 | — | — | — | — | — | not published |
2
Deployments
Named customers, what the robots do there, and how far it has gone.
| Customer | What | When | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla, Inc. (internal) ↗ | Initial Optimus builds from the Fremont lines to be used in Tesla's 'Optimus Academy' for training-data collection and functionality development | 2026 | Pilot |
3
Dated facts
Milestones, orders, factories and filings, newest first.
- 2026-10Q3 2026 update: 'Optimus production began in Fremont on our high-volume lines. The bots coming off this line are the first production-quality bots that we have manufactured.' Tesla added that 'the current manufacturing process for Optimus is suitable for a commercial product.' ↗
- 2026-10Q3 2026 10-Q: R&D expenses rose 53% ($2.45 billion) in the first nine months of 2026, 'primarily due to increases in costs related to SI and other programs, such as Optimus'. ↗
- 2026-07Q2 2026 update: the Model S and X lines in Fremont were decommissioned and first-generation Optimus lines were being installed. Building construction at Gigafactory Texas was 'now in full swing'. ↗
- 2026-04Q1 2026 update: the first-generation Optimus line, 'designed for 1 million robots a year', will replace the Model S and Model X lines in Fremont. Gigafactory Texas is being prepared for a second-generation line designed for 10 million robots a year long-term. The update also introduced 'Digital Optimus' for automating digital workloads. ↗
- 2026-04Q1 2026 earnings call: Musk pushed the Gen 3 unveil 'closer to production', citing competitors copying earlier designs. ↗
- 2026-01Q4 2025 update: Tesla planned to unveil Optimus Gen 3, 'our first design meant for mass production', in Q1 2026. It also planned to start production before the end of 2026, with 'eventual planned capacity of 1 million robots per year'. ↗
- 2025-11On November 6, 2025, shareholders approved the 2025 CEO Performance Award. One of its milestones is '1 Million Bots Delivered', meaning Tesla has cumulatively delivered at least 1 million Bots, Optimus included. ↗
- 2025-06Milan Kovac, who had led the Optimus group since 2022, left Tesla. Autopilot head Ashok Elluswamy took over his responsibilities. ↗
- 2025-04Q1 2025 update: Tesla said it was on track for 'builds of Optimus on our Fremont pilot production line in 2025, with wider deployment of bots doing useful work across our factories.' ↗
- 2025-01Q4 2024 update: 'Progress on Optimus hardware and software continued in Q4, including the latest generation hand, robust locomotion and training on additional tasks, ahead of planned pilot production in 2025.' ↗
- 2021-08Tesla announced the humanoid at its AI Day event on August 19, 2021. ↗
4
Not yet confirmed
Claims seen in only one non-official place. Shown so they can be checked, not as findings.
- Planned size of 173 cm / 57 kg (2021 AI Day), Gen 2 hand at 11 DoF and the Nov 2024 hand at 22 DoF: found only on Wikipedia (/wiki/Optimus_(robot)); tesla.com could not be checked.
- Musk's 2022 figures of 5 mph and 45 lb payload, and his ~US$20,000 volume price: found only in Engadget (2025-06-07) as Musk statements, not in a Tesla spec sheet.
- Gen 3 unveil status: Wikipedia (Apr 2026) says the unveil was pushed 'closer to production'. The Q3 2026 SEC update does not mention a Gen 3 unveil. Aggregator sites (humanoid.guide, basenor.com) claim Gen 3 specs (e.g. 75 DoF, 180 cm) that conflict with each other and were not used.
S
Sources
Retrieved 2026-11-08.
- Tesla Q3 2026 Update (8-K Ex. 99.1) — Tesla, Inc. via SEC EDGAR
- Tesla Form 10-Q, quarter ended Sept 30, 2026 — Tesla, Inc. via SEC EDGAR
- Tesla Q2 2026 Update (8-K Ex. 99.1) — Tesla, Inc. via SEC EDGAR
- Tesla Q1 2026 Update (8-K Ex. 99.1) — Tesla, Inc. via SEC EDGAR
- Tesla Q4 2025 Update (8-K Ex. 99.1) — Tesla, Inc. via SEC EDGAR
- Tesla Form 10-K, fiscal 2025 — Tesla, Inc. via SEC EDGAR
- Tesla Q1 2025 Update (8-K Ex. 99.1) — Tesla, Inc. via SEC EDGAR
- Tesla Q4 2024 Update (8-K Ex. 99.1) — Tesla, Inc. via SEC EDGAR
- Tesla 2025 Proxy Statement (DEF 14A) — 2025 CEO Performance Award — Tesla, Inc. via SEC EDGAR
- Tesla 8-K, 2025 Annual Meeting results (Nov 6, 2025) — Tesla, Inc. via SEC EDGAR
- Optimus (robot) — Wikipedia
- The head of Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot program leaves the company — Engadget