DEPLOYDatabase

Robot model

Tesla Optimus

humanoidresearchby Tesla
$20,000-$30,000claimedas of Jan 2025

Tesla Optimus (Tesla Bot) is a general-purpose humanoid robot developed by Tesla, announced as a concept at AI Day in August 2021 and shown as working…

Track Tesla Optimus
Manufacturer
Tesla
Form factor
humanoid
Maturity
research
Lifecycle
active
Deployments
6
Website
tesla.com ↗

The verified answer

As of Aug 2026, DEPLOY verifies Tesla Optimus, a humanoid by Tesla (research): 6 verified deployments on record. 17 sources back the record.

Overview

Tesla Optimus (Tesla Bot) is a general-purpose humanoid robot developed by Tesla, announced as a concept at AI Day in August 2021 and shown as working prototypes at AI Day in September 2022. The second generation, Optimus Gen 2 (December 2023), demonstrated Tesla-designed actuators and sensors, roughly 30 percent faster walking, a weight reduction of about 10 kg, 11-degree-of-freedom hands with fingertip tactile sensing, and a 2-degree-of-freedom actuated neck.

Optimus shares its perception and compute approach with Tesla's Full Self-Driving stack. Tesla positions Optimus for factory and general-purpose labor and projects a long-run price near $20,000 to $30,000 at scale, but those figures and timelines are company projections rather than realized outcomes. At the We Robot event in October 2024, Optimus units that appeared to converse and serve drinks were reported by Bloomberg and TechCrunch to be human-teleoperated rather than autonomous.

Tesla has claimed internal factory testing of Optimus, but on the Q4 2025 earnings call (January 2026) Elon Musk acknowledged the robots are not in material use in Tesla factories and remain in the research-and-development phase. As of mid-2026 there is no verified external commercial sale, and the production-design V3 reveal has slipped repeatedly. Optimus is therefore recorded at research maturity: its factory presence is maker-facility R&D, not a verified commercial deployment.

Verified vs. claimed

Maturity stage
research(Lab-stage only; no commercial or public deployment reported.)
Sources on file
View all sources →

Key facts

Height

approx 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)

Weight

approx 57 to 73 kg depending on generation

DOF

approx 28 body DOF plus 11 per hand (Gen 2)

Price (projected target)

Musk projects roughly $20,000 to $30,000 at scale: a manufacturer target, not a sold or executable price.

Battery

2.3 kWh, 52 V (Gen 1 published spec)

Availability

Not for sale. Research and development stage; Tesla targets future production at scale, no preorder available.

Pricing model

Projected one-time purchase at scale (not currently available)

Optimus 4 production

Will be built in Austin with vertically integrated supply chain (in-house PCB work)

AI software

Same end-to-end FSD team (V12-V15) now developing Optimus control software

2026 production target

50,000-100,000 units (company-reported)

Fremont capacity

Up to 1M units/year at full build-out, ~40 sub-lines

Production status

As of July 20, no verified production units disclosed. Q1 guidance: late July/August start.

Giga Texas facility

Under construction, targeting 10M units/year, online 2027

Volume production timeline

SLIPPED — 'volume production' language removed from Q2 2026 shareholder letter. Musk cautioned about manufacturing challenges.

Q2 2026 financials

Net income $1.1B (-5% YoY), operating income $398M (-57% YoY)

We, Robot VVC

Oct 2024 demo: claimed autonomous interaction, verified teleoperated — marquee demo-vs-reality gap in humanoid robotics

Teleoperation confirmed

Bloomberg (Oct 14, 2024) + Morgan Stanley Adam Jonas — 'relied on tele-ops (human intervention)'

MKBHD assessment

'Either the greatest robotics demo ever, or MOSTLY remote operated by a human' — Oct 12, 2024

Musk admission

Acknowledged teleoperation in 2025 earnings call — full autonomy not yet achieved at demo time

Earnings call focus

Musk spent ~10%+ of Tesla earnings call time on Optimus in past year (up from ~2% in 2022), peaking at nearly 1/3 on Q3 2025 call (TechCrunch/Hudson Labs analysis, Aug 2026)

JPMorgan intel (Aug 2026)

SoP in coming months, commercial sales expected 2H27. Gen 3 design finalized, supply chain locked. Production line at former Model S/X line site in Fremont. Gen 3 unveil timed closer to SoP.

Optimus Academy

Phase 1 (H2 2026): robots deployed for data accumulation via real-world interaction

Specs

Dof

28 body DOF plus 11 per hand (Gen 2)

Hands

11-DOF cable-driven hands with fingertip tactile sensing (Gen 2)

Notes

Concept announced: Tesla AI Day, August 2021 (concept only, no hardware; represented by a person in a suit)., First prototypes: Tesla AI Day, September 30, 2022: the Bumble-C prototype walked untethered; a sleeker Optimus unit using Tesla components was shown but could not yet walk unaided., Optimus Gen 2: December 2023: Tesla-designed actuators and sensors, about 30 percent faster walking, roughly 10 kg lighter, 11-DOF hands with fingertip tactile sensing, a 2-DOF actuated neck, and balance/squat demos. This is the primary demonstrated-hardware artifact., We Robot demo (teleoperation): October 10, 2024: Optimus units appeared to converse and serve drinks; Bloomberg and TechCrunch reported the interactions were human-teleoperated, with only walking AI-driven. Tesla did not disclose the remote assistance beforehand., Factory work: claimed vs admitted: Tesla claimed internal factory testing (2024 to 2025). On the Q4 2025 earnings call (January 2026), Elon Musk acknowledged Optimus is not in material use in Tesla factories and remains in the research-and-development phase., V3 / production design: The production-design V3 reveal slipped repeatedly (to mid-2026 as of the April 2026 call); Musk declined a 2026 volume target. An earlier claim of about 5,000 units in 2025 was reportedly missed (a few hundred built)., External commercial sale: No verified external commercial sale as of mid-2026. Tesla's stated goal is for Optimus to be useful outside Tesla around 2027., Price (claimed): Musk projects roughly $20,000 to $30,000 at scale (sub-$20,000 only above 1 million units per year). A projection, not a realized price., Supply constraint: On the Q1 2025 call, Musk attributed Optimus production impact to China's rare-earth magnet export restrictions., Leadership: Optimus program VP Milan Kovac departed June 2025; Ashok Elluswamy (Autopilot/AI) took over leadership., AI stack: Shares perception and compute approach with Tesla Full Self-Driving (registry brain: tesla-fsd-bot).

Height

approx 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)

Weight

approx 57 to 73 kg depending on generation; Gen 2 reduced about 10 kg vs Gen 1

Battery

2.3 kWh, 52 V (Gen 1 published spec)

Compute

Tesla FSD computer; neural networks trained on Tesla's AI infrastructure; perception/compute approach shared with Tesla Full Self-Driving

Actuators

6 Tesla-designed actuator types (3 rotary harmonic-drive, 3 linear roller-screw)

Ai system

Tesla FSD computer; neural networks trained on Tesla's AI infrastructure; perception/compute approach shared with Tesla Full Self-Driving

Form Factor

humanoid (general-purpose bipedal)

Battery kwh

2.3

Degrees Of Freedom

approx 28 body DOF plus 11 per hand (Gen 2); a 22-DOF hand is claimed for the V3 production design

Sourced specs

Individual specifications, each with its own source and date.

SpecValueSource
Height173 cmclaimedTesla Optimus Gen 2 announcement — Tesla AI Day / tesla.com/optimus
Payload20 kgclaimed
as of Sep 30, 2022
Tesla AI Day 2022 (Sep 30 2022): Optimus designed to 'carry up to 45 lbs' (20.4 kg); design target from official presentation; tesla.com/blog/optimus-gen-2 (Dec 2023) reaffirms carrying capability
Weight57 kgclaimedTesla Optimus Gen 2 announcement — Tesla AI Day / tesla.com/optimus

To scale

Human175 cmTesla Optimus173 cm (5'8")

Data & sources

Company filings

1

Press releases

1

News coverage

6

Web sources

9

17 sources backing this record.View all →

Availability and pricing

Availability
Announced, no date
Price
$20K to $30K (manufacturer target)as of 2024-10-10
Units in field
1000 claimedvendor claim, unverified
Sales model
Not for sale
Lead time
Not disclosed

Autonomy: verified vs claimed

What it actually does
Mixed
What the maker claims
“Yes — the laundry folding demo was confirmed by Tesla as autonomous, not teleoperated. Optimus folded a black t-shirt using single-arm manipulation”
Flagship demo
staged footage · speed altered (unclear) · independently corroborated: partial

Accountability: Tesla has a Claim Integrity of 0% (0 of 4 public claims verified). See the industry ledger.

Claims ledger

Public, dated claims by Tesla, each tracked against the evidence. Status is a DEPLOY assessment from primary sources: verified means an independent source confirms it; contradicted means one refutes it; open means the outcome is not yet determinable. Every entry keeps its verbatim quote and source so you can check the call yourself.

Show 6 more claims
  • OpenCapability · claimed 2026-07-22
    “robot_phone_key_pairing_intro_setup_label, robot_phone_key_error_too_many_keys_on_whitelist, robot_phone_key_connected”
    claim sourcestatus evidencecite this claim
  • OpenTimeline · claimed 2026-07-22
    “Tesla removed language from its first-quarter letter about Optimus reaching 'volume production.' Musk cautioned about the challenges of Optimus manufacturing during the Q2 call.”
    claim sourceclaim sourcestatus evidencecite this claim
  • OpenCapacity · claimed 2026-07-22
    “Tesla's official production target for 2026 is 50,000 to 100,000 Optimus units. The Fremont facility targets a designed annual capacity of up to 1 million units at full build-out.”
    claim sourcestatus evidencecite this claim
  • OpenCapacity · claimed 2026-05-01
    “Tesla ended production of Model S and Model X in early May 2026, reconfiguring the space for Optimus Gen 3 assembly. The line has ~40 sub-lines planned, targeting 1M annual capacity.”
    claim sourcestatus evidencecite this claim
  • OpenTimeline · claimed 2026-04-22
    “Musk confirmed Optimus production will begin at Fremont in late July or August 2026. The initial builds will be used in Optimus Academy for training data collection, not productive tasks.”
    claim sourcestatus evidencecite this claim
  • OpenPrice · claimed 2024-06-13
    “Elon Musk expects to sell the Tesla Optimus robot for $20,000 to $30,000 at scale.”
    claim sourceclaim sourcestatus evidencecite this claim

Disagree with a status? Tesla can submit a correction with evidence and we log the response on the record. Methodology and the full industry ledger live at /stats/claim-integrity.

Pricing

One-time purchase

$20,000 - $30,000 USDmanufacturer targetas of 2024-10-10

Source: Tesla We Robot official event page

Price status: actual-sale-price = real published price at time of sale; manufacturer-target = vendor target, not yet realized; analyst-estimate = third-party projection, not a vendor figure; not-announced = no price on record.

Prices verified as of Oct 10, 2024

Deployments (6)

Free to use on your site, with a link back to DEPLOY.

Tesla Optimus on the deployment map

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Where Tesla Optimus is verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.

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Recent activity

Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.

  • Incident recordedJul 31, 2026

    NHTSA opens probe into 1.2 million Tesla Model 3 and Model Y vehicles over front...

  • Incident recordedJul 28, 2026

    Fired Tesla FSD safety manager Javier Medrano sues Tesla, alleges systemic safety...

  • Incident recordedJul 25, 2026

    NHTSA probes Tesla FSD marketing after AI-related crashes

  • Verified media addedVerifiedJul 23, 2026

    Optimus open hand reaching over the sorting tray

  • Verified media addedVerifiedJul 23, 2026

    Optimus against a studio wall, actuators and sensors callout

Full change history →

Deployment-verified media (6)

PRIMARY SOURCE
Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.

Tesla Optimus walking and navigating around obstacles on a Tesla factory floor. Tesla describes the navigation as performed autonomously.

From deployment: Fremont

PRIMARY SOURCE
Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.

Tesla's official Optimus Gen 2 unveiling video. Demonstrated autonomy level not explicitly disclosed by Tesla; tagged claimed-only.

From deployment: Fremont

Manufacturer-attributed media (19)

Manufacturer-supplied media at the model level. Not tied to an independently verified named-site deployment. Verification posture is product-showcase from the maker, distinct from the deployment-verified evidence in the section above.

Runs on (2)

Supply chain (1)

Compute / semiconductor

  • TSMCFSD HW4 computer (N7 process node) -- onboard AI inference chip powering Tesla Optimus locomotion and perceptionmanufactures-for

Suppliers appear here when verified with at least two strong sources (maker-official / IR / regulatory / standards-body / verified tier-2). Sources are append-only; corrections add new sources rather than rewrite history.

Safety record

4 recalls and 52 incidents on record (3 catastrophic, 2 critical, 14 serious, 8 moderate, 29 minor). Most recent: Jul 2026.

catastrophic
3
critical
2
serious
14
moderate
8
minor
29
collision
32
regulatory action
11
fatality
4
recall
4
injury
3
other
2

Most recent: Jul 2026

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Incidents affecting Tesla Optimus (56)

Includes incidents linked directly to this model or to deployments of it. Retracted incidents are excluded from this view but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Sources (17)

  1. Tesla: Optimus · https://www.tesla.com/we-robot · 2026-01-01
  2. Optimus (robot): Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_(robot) · 2026-01-01
  3. Musk: zero Optimus doing useful work (Jan 2026); Fremont line conversion · https://electrek.co/2026/04/22/tesla-optimus-production-fremont-model-sx-line/ · 2026-04-22
  4. https://spectrum.ieee.org/tesla-optimus-robot
  5. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/30/business/tesla-bot-robot
  6. https://insideevs.com/news/613692/tesla-humanoid-robot-ai-day-2022/
  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpraXaw7dyc
  8. https://electrek.co/2023/12/12/tesla-unveils-optimus-gen-2-next-generation-humanoid-robot/
  9. https://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics-experts-tesla-bot-optimus
  10. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001318605/000110465925101876/tm252289d41_defa14a.htm
  11. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-14/tesla-s-optimus-robots-were-remotely-operated-at-cybercab-event
  12. https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/14/tesla-optimus-bots-were-controlled-by-humans-during-the-we-robot-event/

Compare Tesla Optimus

Common questions

What is Tesla Optimus?
Tesla Optimus (Tesla Bot) is a general-purpose humanoid robot developed by Tesla, announced as a concept at AI Day in August 2021 and shown as working prototypes at AI Day in September 2022. The second generation, Optimus Gen 2 (December 2023), demonstrated Tesla-designed actuators and sensors, roughly 30 percent faster walking, a weight reduction of about 10 kg, 11-degree-of-freedom hands with fingertip tactile sensing, and a 2-degree-of-freedom actuated neck. Optimus shares its perception and compute approach with Tesla's Full Self-Driving stack. Tesla positions Optimus for factory and general-purpose labor and projects a long-run price near $20,000 to $30,000 at scale, but those figures and timelines are company projections rather than realized outcomes. At the We Robot event in October 2024, Optimus units that appeared to converse and serve drinks were reported by Bloomberg and TechCrunch to be human-teleoperated rather than autonomous. Tesla has claimed internal factory testing of Optimus, but on the Q4 2025 earnings call (January 2026) Elon Musk acknowledged the robots are not in material use in Tesla factories and remain in the research-and-development phase. As of mid-2026 there is no verified external commercial sale, and the production-design V3 reveal has slipped repeatedly. Optimus is therefore recorded at research maturity: its factory presence is maker-facility R&D, not a verified commercial deployment.
How much does Tesla Optimus cost?
Tesla Optimus is listed at $20,000 to $30,000 on the DEPLOY registry. This is a manufacturer target price, not a confirmed consumer price.
Tesla We Robot official event page
Is Tesla Optimus actually deployed in the real world?
Yes. Tesla Optimus is independently verified in real-world operation on the DEPLOY registry, confirmed at named deployment sites with primary sources: not a concept, render, or demo-only.
Is Tesla Optimus autonomous or teleoperated?
Not verified as fully autonomous. Tesla Optimus's capabilities on the DEPLOY registry are recorded as teleoperated-assisted, demonstrated-only, or vendor claims (Folds laundry and Tidies a room), not independently confirmed to run without a human in the loop.
What are the specs of Tesla Optimus?
Tesla Optimus's recorded specifications on the DEPLOY registry: Degrees of freedom: 28 body DOF plus 11 per hand (Gen 2); Weight: approx 57 to 73 kg depending on generation; Gen 2 reduced about 10 kg vs Gen 1; Battery: 2.3 kWh, 52 V (Gen 1 published spec); Height: 173; Payload: 20 kg. See the Specs section for the full sourced set.
Who makes Tesla Optimus?
Tesla Optimus is made by Tesla, based in Austin, Texas, USA, founded in 2003.
Where is Tesla Optimus deployed?
6 verified deployments of Tesla Optimus are on the DEPLOY registry, including at South Korea, Austin, Texas, USA (Gigafactory Texas), Fremont, California, USA.
What AI powers Tesla Optimus?
Tesla Optimus runs Tesla FSD-Bot and Grok (xAI). Each brain assignment is verified at the registry level via primary sources.
What are alternatives to Tesla Optimus?
On the DEPLOY registry, comparable humanoid robots to Tesla Optimus include Walker S2, Digit, Unitree G1, Apollo.
How does Tesla Optimus compare to Walker S2?
Tesla Optimus and Walker S2 (UBTech Robotics · 17 deployments) are both humanoid robots on the DEPLOY registry. Tesla Optimus has 6 verified deployments on record. Compare both records for specs, safety, deployments, and verified-vs-claimed autonomy.
Is Tesla Optimus a top humanoid?
On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, safety, adoption, media, and IP signals, Tesla Optimus ranks in roughly the top 19% of humanoid models tracked by the registry.
What is Tesla Optimus's maturity stage?
Tesla Optimus is at the research stage on the DEPLOY maturity ladder (research, prototype, pilot, commercial, production). Research stage means active development without commercial deployments on file.
Is Tesla Optimus safe?
Tesla Optimus has 56 active incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. 4 recalls and 52 incidents on record (3 catastrophic, 2 critical, 14 serious, 8 moderate, 29 minor). Most recent: Jul 2026. Retracted incidents are excluded from this count.
Can you buy a Tesla Optimus robot?
No. As of July 2026, the Tesla Optimus is not for sale. There is no pre-order, reservation, waitlist, or deposit system. Elon Musk has stated a target price of $20,000 to $30,000 at full production scale, but Tesla has never published an official retail price. External sale is targeted for end of 2027 at the earliest.
RoboZaps: Tesla Optimus Review 2026 SVRC: Tesla Optimus Price & Availability 2026
How much will the Tesla Optimus cost?
Elon Musk has repeatedly said the Optimus could cost between $20,000 and $30,000 once production scales. However, Tesla has not confirmed a final retail price, and the target is for full-scale production, not the initial limited run. Industry analysts estimate broad consumer availability is unlikely before 2028-2029.
StandardBots: Tesla robot price in 2026 SVRC: Tesla Optimus Price & Availability
Methodology: Verified · 17 sources (2 primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-20

Verification posture

Verified

High confidence

Review state

Active watch · monthly

Last reviewed 2026-08-20

production-ramp-claims-vs-verified-deployments

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: research

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: humanoid

Sources by quality tier

8
unclassified
Unclassified source
3
secondary-industry-publication
Industry publication
3
secondary-established-publication
Established publication
1
knowledge-base
Knowledge base
1
primary-company-ir
Company IR disclosure
1
primary-sec-filing
SEC filing

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Tesla Optimus.

Recent coverage

Tesla Optimus in third-party press

Virtuix Expands Omni One Into Tesla Optimus, NASA And U.S. Military Applications

Aug 22, 2026

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Aug 6, 2026

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Aug 6, 2026