Tesla begins Optimus robot production at Fremont factory

Tesla said it has started producing its Optimus humanoid robot at its Fremont, California factory, according to the company's third-quarter earnings report released on October 21. Tesla described the units coming off the line as the first mass-production-quality robots it has built.

CEO Elon Musk called the run "initial production" and said ramping output of a completely new product will be slow and not entirely smooth. Tesla aims to build 20,000 Optimus units per week at Fremont by the end of 2027, and to begin customer deliveries from the end of next year.

The company is also building what it calls an "Optimus Academy," where robots repeatedly practice tasks to generate data for improving the AI model that drives them. Musk said a video showing the latest Optimus model is expected within the next month or two.

Tesla plans to install its next-generation AI5 chip in April next year, with Ashok Elluswamy, the vice president leading AI software, involved in the program, aitimes.com reported.

Financial picture

Tesla's third-quarter revenue was $28.04 billion, slightly down from $28.09 billion a year earlier, while net income fell 43% to $787 million from $1.37 billion. Services revenue rose 33% year over year to $4.6 billion, and Tesla again delayed the launch schedule for an unsupervised FSD feature.

Early this year, the Fremont factory halted Model S and Model X production to make space for Optimus manufacturing. Tesla has set a long-term goal of 1 million Optimus units per year for the Fremont line and is building a second line in Austin, Texas, targeting annual capacity of 10 million units.