Elon Musk has given the most concrete timeline yet for Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, saying it could begin operating outside the company as early as next year.

Speaking during Tesla’s latest earnings call, Musk said the company is moving toward “actually releasing Optimus,” with internal production already ramping up.

He added that the goal is to have “Optimus be useful outside of Tesla sometime next year,” according to Inc.

Tesla says it will start production in Fremont this July

Tesla plans to begin initial production at its Fremont factory in late July or August, following a rapid overhaul of the existing manufacturing lines used for the Model S and Model X.

Musk described the transition as unusually fast, saying, “If we were able to go from stopping production on one line, dismantling that entire line, reinstalling a whole new line, and turning that on in a matter of four months, that is an insanely fast speed. I don’t think any other company on Earth has ever done that before,” according to Electrek.

Musk cautions limited output as Tesla eyes hungry competition

Despite the aggressive schedule, Musk cautioned that output will be limited at first. 

He emphasized the unpredictability of scaling a completely new product with thousands of components, saying, “It will move as fast as the least lucky, slowest, dumbest part in the entire 10,000,” adding that it is “literally impossible to predict” production rates at this stage.

While fans were hoping to see the new Optimus V3 prototype this spring, they will have to wait until mid-year. Musk admitted that Tesla is becoming increasingly secretive to prevent rivals from reverse-engineering their progress.

“We’re a bit hesitant about showing it, because we’ve found that competitors will analyze it frame by frame and copy everything we do, so we want to wait until it’s ready before releasing it,” Musk said during the call.  

This caution comes as competitors like Figure AI, Agility Robotics, and Boston Dynamics have already begun deploying their own humanoid robots in real-world pilot programs.

The long game: Tesla’s 2027 growth plans

Tesla’s ambitions don’t stop at the California border. While Fremont will handle the early production, the company is already eyeing 2027 for a major scale-up. 

A second factory is currently under construction at Giga Texas, with production expected to start in the summer of 2027.

Musk remains convinced that, despite the manufacturing hurdles, this will eventually be Tesla’s most significant contribution to the world.

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