Tesla Optimus

Tesla Optimus is a general-purpose humanoid robot designed to handle repetitive, dangerous, or physically demanding tasks. Standing 173 cm tall and weighing roughly 57 kg (Gen 2), it is built around the same AI and computer vision technology that powers Tesla's Full Self-Driving vehicle software, giving it a distinctive approach compared to competitors that build their AI stacks from scratch.

First announced at Tesla AI Day in August 2021, Optimus has progressed through several prototype generations. Tesla has described a Gen 3 hand design with 22 degrees of freedom and roughly 50 actuators per hand, but that design has not shipped and has already been revised once. Tesla's stated strategy is to apply its manufacturing scale and neural-network training infrastructure to build humanoid robots well below the price of industry alternatives; the company has given a long-run target of roughly $20,000–$30,000 at volume, with no current price.

As of August 2026 the Gen 3 robot has still not been shown publicly. Tesla missed an initial Q1 2026 reveal target, said in April that a reveal would come "probably middle of this year", and set no new date on the Q2 earnings call in July. A production line converted from the Model S/X floor at Fremont was completed in May 2026 and Tesla says production is anticipated later in the year; Elon Musk has cautioned that the ramp will be "quite flat and long" because the robot uses around 10,000 unique parts. He acknowledged in January 2026 that no Optimus units were yet doing commercially useful work at Tesla facilities, and indicated at Davos that sales to the public would likely begin around the end of 2027. Optimus has never been offered for pre-order and no deposits have been taken. Specifications for Gen 3, including height, weight and speed, remain unpublished.