Tesla
Tesla began its Optimus humanoid program in 2021 and has shown three generations, with a production-intent V3 planned for a Fremont line in 2026. Musk has called Optimus potentially Tesla's most valuable product and set a long-term target of millions of units per year. Tesla funds the program internally.
- Type
- automaker
- Headquarters
- Austin, Texas, United States
- Founded
- 2003
- Founders
- Martin Eberhard, Marc Tarpenning, Elon Musk (early investor and CEO)
- Status
- active
- Employees (est.)
- n/d
- Disclosed funding
- n/d
- Valuation
- n/d
- Listed
- NASDAQ: TSLA
- Website
- tesla.com
What the record says.
Tesla, the Austin-based car maker listed on Nasdaq, announced Optimus on 19 August 2021 at AI Day with a dancer in a robot suit standing in for hardware. A walking prototype, Bumblebee, appeared in September 2022; Gen 2, slimmer with better hands, in December 2023. At the We, Robot event in October 2024 the robots served drinks and chatted, largely by teleoperation. Musk has put a future price near USD 30,000. Tesla funds the programme itself.
In January 2025 Musk predicted roughly 10,000 units would be built that year; Tesla missed that entirely, and in January 2026 Musk conceded no Optimus was yet doing useful work in its factories. Programme head Milan Kovac left in June 2025 and Ashok Elluswamy of Autopilot took over. A v2.3 robot handed out popcorn at showroom events in London and Berlin in December 2025.
On the first-quarter 2026 call Musk said the Fremont line vacated by Model S and X in May would start building the production-intent V3 in late July or August 2026, with output initially quite slow and no 2026 volume target, citing about 10,000 unique parts. The V3 reveal slipped from early 2026 to mid-year. A second plant at Giga Texas is meant to start in summer 2027. As of September 2026 no Optimus has been sold to an outside customer.
4 humanoids tracked.
Optimus (Bumblebee prototype)
Bumblebee was the first physical Tesla humanoid, built in about six months after the 2021 Tesla Bot announcement using off-the-shelf parts. It walked on stage at AI Day on 30 September 2022 and was shown moving boxes in a video. It was a stepping stone toward the Tesla-designed Optimus Gen 1 shown the same day.
Optimus Gen 1
Optimus Gen 1 was the first Tesla-designed humanoid, unveiled at AI Day 2022 with 28 actuators, an 11 DoF hand and a 2.3 kWh battery. It first walked untethered in videos in March and May 2023. Tesla positioned it as a product to be built at scale using its car-manufacturing know-how.
Optimus Gen 2
Optimus Gen 2, revealed on 12 December 2023, is about 10 kg lighter than Gen 1, walks 30 percent faster and has Tesla-designed actuators, an actuated neck and tactile fingers. It has been used for internal factory trials and at Tesla marketing events, where it was partly teleoperated. It is the version the public has seen most.
Optimus V3
Optimus V3 is the version Tesla describes as production-intent, with a new 22 DoF hand and forearm and a factory line in Fremont planned for 2026. Musk has repeatedly said V3 would be unveiled in early 2026 and that volume production is targeted for later in the decade. Tesla has stated a long-term ambition of one million units per year.
At customer sites.
| Robot | Customer | Site | Since | Status | Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimus Gen 2 | Tesla Diner | Tesla Diner, Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, United States | Jul 2025 | unclear | 1 |
| Optimus Gen 2 | Tesla (internal) | Tesla Fremont factory, California, and Gigafactory Texas, United States | May 2024 | active | n/d |
Milestones.
Tesla shareholders approve a pay package tied to one million Optimus robots
Tesla shareholders approve Elon Musk's compensation plan with milestones that include delivering one million Optimus robots. Musk tells the meeting that Optimus could be the biggest product in history and shows V3 renderings.
Optimus program head Milan Kovac leaves Tesla
Milan Kovac, who led the Optimus program from its start, resigns citing family reasons. Ashok Elluswamy, head of Autopilot, takes over the program.
Optimus serves drinks at Tesla's We, Robot event, later confirmed as teleoperated
Tesla shows Optimus robots walking among guests, pouring drinks and playing games at the Cybercab reveal in Los Angeles. Attendees and reporters establish that the robots were remotely controlled by humans, prompting a debate about teleoperation disclosure.
Tesla reveals Optimus Gen 2
Optimus Gen 2 is 10 kg lighter, walks 30 percent faster, has tactile sensing in all fingers and Tesla designed actuators. The video of it handling eggs marks the point where Optimus becomes a credible engineering program.
Tesla shows the first Optimus prototype (Bumblebee) walking
At AI Day 2022 a development prototype nicknamed Bumblebee walks on stage untethered for the first time, and a second, sleeker Optimus body is carried out. Musk says the target price is under 20,000 dollars.
Tesla announces the Tesla Bot (Optimus)
At Tesla AI Day, Elon Musk announces a 173 cm, 57 kg general purpose humanoid based on Tesla's vehicle autonomy stack, presented on stage by a dancer in a suit. The announcement triggers the current wave of general purpose humanoid startups.
How a humanoid robot works: actuators, compute, sensors and the model
Of 182 humanoids on record, 178 say what moves the joints and 43 say what computer is inside. The further a layer sits from the metal, the less the maker tells you about it.
How long does a humanoid robot actually run
22 of 182 humanoids on record quote a runtime. The claims run from 1 to 8 hours with a median of 4, and of the 44 machines you can order, 4 say anything at all.
Startups, automakers, universities: who builds humanoids
108 makers, nine kinds. Startups hold 37 of the 44 humanoids you can order. Automakers, universities, big tech, conglomerates and NASA hold 45 robots between them and sell none of them.
44 you can order, 138 you cannot: the gap explained
We keep a record of 182 humanoid robots. Fewer than a quarter of them will sell you one, and of those, only eight tell you the price on their own website. Here is where the rest went.
A short history of the humanoid, from Elektro to the order button
Our record holds 111 dated milestones since 1939. Sixty-eight of them are from this decade, and what changed was not the walking. It was the price tag.
China builds, America demos: what 108 makers tell you
Chinese makers account for 65 of the 182 humanoids in our record and 31 of the 44 you can order. American makers hold the money, the research and most of the autonomy claims, and sell you almost nothing.
Sources
- 01
- 02Optimus (robot)Wikipedia
- 03
- 04