Tesla targets weekly robot output of 20,000 after clearing Fremont vehicle line
The company says the Optimus units coming off the new line are the first to meet commercial production standards.
By Adewale Fletcher ·
Tesla has begun manufacturing Optimus robots on a high-volume line inside its Fremont factory. In its third-quarter shareholder letter, the company stated that the units leaving the assembly line are the first production-quality bots it has built. The letter added that the current manufacturing process is suitable for a commercial product.
The space now occupied by the robot line previously built the Model S and Model X. Tesla cleared that old vehicle equipment in 46 days during the spring to make room for robot production. The new facility is sized to handle one million units per year. On Wednesday's earnings call, Elon Musk said most of the equipment needed for that capacity is already in place. He indicated that output will climb toward roughly 20,000 robots per week as the line ramps up.
Musk described the production increase as a classic S curve, noting that the initial slope will be shallow. The team is currently refining the robot's artificial intelligence, electromechanical design, reliability, and service life. Musk expects this work to be finished by the end of next year. At that point, Tesla plans to start delivering Optimus units to outside companies for dangerous, repetitive, and around-the-clock jobs.
Tesla is using a new method to train its robots because it lacks a large fleet to gather data from. The company's cars send real driving data from millions of vehicles, but Optimus does not have that advantage. Musk explained that this is a major difference between the two product lines. Tesla's solution is an Optimus Academy where 10,000 to 20,000 robots will practice various tasks. Every unit off the Fremont line will feed data into the next version of the model.
Hardware upgrades are also planned. Tesla intends to put its AI5 chip into Optimus next year. Musk said a new video showing the robot completing tasks driven by AI rather than preprogrammed motions should arrive within one or two months. He criticized rival humanoid demos that only run scripted routines, stating that those would not hold up in the real world.
