Tesla faces employee pushback in Optimus robot training efforts

Training a humanoid robot to move like a person turns out to require people to move in ways that aren’t great for their bodies. Tesla employees tasked with generating training data for the company’s Optimus robot have described sprinting, squatting, and performing other physically demanding movements while wearing heavy camera equipment, with some workers experiencing health issues during earlier training phases. The production push Tesla has been ramping Optimus production at its Fremont factory using repurposed assembly lines that once built the Model S and Model X. Output has climbed from just dozens of units during a small-scale testing phase in Q2 2026 to several hundred units per week by August 2026. The target: more than 1,000 units per week by the end of 2026, with a longer-term ambition of roughly 20,000 units per week. The V3 version of the Optimus hand and forearm contains more than 100 small components that require precise manual assembly and alignment. Most of the components are being sourced from a developing network of suppliers, which means Tesla can’t rely on the kind of mature, battle-tested parts pipeline that supports its vehicle manufacturing. Training humans t...