Tesla appears to be getting closer to deploying Optimus in its factories — and Austin is the next training ground.
Tesla told workers during a town hall last week that it plans to begin collecting data to train its humanoid robot at its Austin Gigafactory, insiders told Business Insider.
The company is looking to train Optimus how to operate in the Texas facility, it said, adding that it was targeting a February start date.
Tesla has been collecting data and training Optimus prototypes in its Fremont, California, factory for more than a year.
The Optimus data collectors in Fremont are typically kept separate from the general factory workers to avoid interfering with output, people with knowledge of the program said.
There, data collectors have recorded themselves organizing vehicle parts and working on conveyor belts, Business Insider previously reported. The videos are then used to teach Optimus how to mimic the same movements.
CEO Elon Musk said during an interview at Davos on Thursday that Tesla has the humanoid robot doing “simple tasks” in its factory, though he didn’t specify which.
“By the end of this year I think they’ll be doing more complex tasks but still deployed in an industrial environment,” he said. “By the end of next year I think we’ll be selling humanoid robots to the public.”
He warned earlier this week in a post on X that production of Optimus — and the company’s Cybercab, which will be produced in Austin — will be “agonizingly slow.”
A spokesperson for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Tesla has been sharing sneak peeks of Optimus’ capabilities since the product was first announced in 2021. In 2024, the automaker posted a video that showed the robot arranging batteries while tied to an overhead support structure at the company’s lab in Palo Alto. The company said that it deployed two autonomous Optimus robots in one of its factories in 2024.
Tesla employs several dozen Optimus trainers. The company’s factory workers, who number in the thousands, could be an ideal group to help train the robot due to their expertise and workforce size.
Last year, Tesla moved from primarily training the robot using teleoperation to collecting video data — a strategy that could help the carmaker rapidly collect larger amounts of data without the constraints of motion capture suits, Business Insider previously reported.
Tesla’s Optimus trainers are outfitted with large helmets with cameras that point in several directions. The helmet is attached to a heavy backpack, which can be unwieldy at times. Tesla has experimented with a lighter fanny pack setup, but it’s unclear if the company plans to use it in factory data collection, people with knowledge of the program said.
Musk has pitched Optimus as the “biggest product of all time.” He’s said the humanoid robot could be the solution to everything from housework and factory work to operating data centers in outer space.
The town hall also covered non-Optimus developments. The company is working on updating several production lines and construction will continue to be ongoing at the factory.
Over the past year, the carmaker has repeatedly slashed production hours for its Cybertruck line and moved workers to the Model Y line amid lackluster sales numbers for the electric pickup truck.
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