Tesla targets 20,000 Optimus robots weekly on former Model S line
The company converted its Fremont facility in 46 days and plans to use an internal robot academy to train the machines for commercial work by 2027.
By Jason Kovalenko ·
Tesla began assembling its Optimus humanoid robot on a production line inside its Fremont factory.
The company stated in its third quarter shareholder letter that these are the first units to meet the standard for a commercial product. Tesla added that it has proven the current manufacturing process is suitable for this purpose.
The assembly line occupies the space where Model S and Model X vehicles were built until spring. The company cleared that old vehicle line in 46 days to prepare for robot production. The facility is sized to handle one million units annually. During Wednesday's earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said most of the necessary equipment is already in place. He projected that weekly output will climb toward 20,000 units as the line ramps up.
Musk described the production growth as an S curve with a shallow initial slope. The engineering team is currently refining the robot's artificial intelligence, electromechanical design, and reliability. Musk expects this work to be finished by the end of next year. Tesla plans to start delivering Optimus units to outside companies at that time. The robots are intended for dangerous, repetitive, and 24-hour jobs.
The company faces a data challenge because it does not have a large fleet of robots to gather training information. Cars provide real driving data from millions of vehicles, but Optimus lacks that existing network. Musk explained this difference on the call. Tesla's solution is an Optimus Academy. This program will use 10,000 to 20,000 robots to practice various tasks. These robots will feed their learned behaviors into the next version of the model. Every unit that leaves the Fremont line will serve as a source of this training data.
Hardware upgrades are also scheduled. Tesla plans to install its AI5 chip into the Optimus robots next year. Musk said a new video demonstrating tasks driven by AI rather than preprogrammed motions should arrive within one or two months. He noted that rival humanoid demonstrations often rely on scripted routines. He stated that those scripted demos would not hold up in real world conditions.
