Tesla ramps Optimus to hundreds a week, but the robots can't generalize | Electrek

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Tesla ramps Optimus to hundreds a week, but the robots can’t generalize

Avatar for Fred Lambert Fred Lambert | Sep 25 2026 - 7:45 am PT

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Tesla is now building several hundred Optimus humanoid robots per week at Fremont, roughly 10 times its Q2 output, according to a new report. But the robots coming off the line still can’t handle generalized tasks – limiting their usefulness.

The report also describes fragile hands, misaligned parts on the assembly line, and suppliers that can’t hold quality at volume. Those are the two problems that decide whether humanoid robots make money: generalization and reliability.

Hundreds of robots, mostly for Tesla This is also a far cry from what Musk was saying last year. In January 2025, he said Tesla would build about 10,000 Optimus robots in 2025 and that “several thousand” would be doing useful work by year-end. A year later, he admitted that zero Optimus robots were doing useful work at Tesla. He also promised a V3 reveal by mid-2026. It’s late September, and that demo still hasn’t happened.

And competitors aren’t waiting. XPeng started running an automated IRON humanoid production line in Guangzhou this month, targeting commercial sales in 2027.

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