[News] Musk Shares Tesla Optimus Production Team Photo, Says Initial Robot Output Will Be “Extremely Slow”

On July 1, Tesla CEO Elon Musk shared a group photo of the Optimus production team, saying he had visited the humanoid robot assembly line at the company’s Fremont factory.

While Musk disclosed no further details, some media outlets interpreted the post as a sign that Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot has entered a critical phase toward mass production.

Responding to online speculation that Tesla has recently reduced public demonstrations of Optimus because production progress is ahead of market expectations, Musk dismissed the claim, saying: “No. Optimus production will be extremely slow at first because everything is new. It’s not like building a car.”

Tesla’s Fremont facility, formerly used to manufacture the Model S and Model X, has been converted into a dedicated production line for humanoid robots. The final Model S and Model X vehicles rolled off the line there in May.

According to previous reports, Musk described the Optimus 3 in March as “the most advanced robot in the world by far,” adding that he had “not seen any demonstration that comes close.” He said low-volume production could begin this summer, with high-volume manufacturing targeted for 2027.

During Tesla’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call in April, Musk confirmed that Optimus would enter production at the Fremont factory in late July or August. However, he cautioned that initial output would be “quite slow,” noting that the robot requires an entirely new production line and incorporates roughly 10,000 unique components, making it impossible to predict how quickly manufacturing can ramp up this year.

(Photo credit: Elon Musk on X)