Tesla ramps up Optimus humanoid robot production tenfold, faces ‘extremely challenging’ supply chain hurdles

Tesla has increased production of its Optimus humanoid robot tenfold in recent months, marking a significant inflection point for a program that could reshape the company’s identity far beyond electric vehicles. The ramp-up, centered at Tesla’s Fremont factory, is the clearest signal yet that the company is serious about turning a sci-fi concept into an assembly-line product. But building humanoid robots at scale turns out to be exactly as hard as it sounds. Elon Musk has described the process of establishing the necessary supply chain as “extremely challenging,” noting that much of it is being developed “almost from scratch.” The initial production rates, by his own admission, will be “agonizingly slow.” From prototype curiosity to factory floor Tesla began producing Optimus at its Fremont facility around late July or August 2026, transitioning from the kind of hand-built prototypes that populated earlier demonstrations to something resembling actual manufacturing. Supply-chain data from September 2026 points to orders for roughly 15,000 Optimus units, a figure that maps to the company’s stated goal of building approximately that many throughout the year. The trajectory Tesla has ...