Tesla has initiated early production of its Optimus humanoid robot at its manufacturing facility in Fremont, California. The company describes these units as production-quality bots, though it has not disclosed specific production volumes, current autonomous capabilities, or reliability metrics.
Elon Musk stated that the company aims to begin delivering Optimus units to external companies around the end of 2027. To reach this goal, Tesla plans to integrate its new AI5 chip into the robots by approximately April 2027, which is expected to provide ten times the computing power of the current AI4 version.
The company faces significant development hurdles, particularly regarding the robot's hands, durability, and the artificial intelligence required for open-ended tasks. Tesla intends to build a fleet of 10 000 to 20 000 robots to generate training data through self-play, a process Musk compared to human learning.
While Tesla has installed most of the equipment needed for a production line capable of manufacturing one million robots annually, Musk noted that reaching a rate of 20 000 robots per week will take at least a year. He emphasized that the production process will follow an S-curve with a slow initial phase.
