Tesla sets late 2027 for Optimus robot sales as hand issues persist

Tesla has officially moved the timeline for selling its Optimus humanoid robots to outside buyers to late 2027. During the company's third quarter earnings call, CEO Elon Musk stated that the robots are not yet ready for the industrial jobs they are designed to perform. He identified the mechanical hands, overall durability, and the underlying AI as the primary hurdles that must be cleared before commercial delivery can begin.

Production is currently underway on a high-volume line in Fremont, California, which previously built the Model S and Model X. Tesla has installed most of the equipment designed to eventually produce one million robots annually. However, Musk acknowledged that reaching a production rate of roughly 20,000 units per week will take at least another year. The delay is largely due to ongoing changes in the robot's design. The company expects to solve these engineering and software issues by the end of next year, at which point it plans to start shipping units to external customers for dangerous or repetitive tasks.

A Tesla Optimus engineer noted during the call that the hand remains one of the most difficult hardware components to perfect. Musk agreed, explaining that the fingers must be soft enough to handle delicate objects while withstanding constant wear. Unlike human skin, the robot's hands cannot heal, making material selection a critical challenge. Custom gears also presented reliability concerns. On the software side, the company is still refining its AI architecture. Since Tesla lacks a large fleet of robots to collect real-world data, it plans to build 10,000 to 20,000 units for an internal training program known as the Optimus Academy. The AI5 chip is scheduled for integration in April 2027.

Musk asserted that no other company is close to matching Tesla's progress in general-purpose humanoid robotics. This claim contrasts with recent developments from competitors. XPeng recently activated an automated production line for its IRON robot in Guangzhou, with mass production targeted for the end of 2026. Deliveries for XPeng are also planned for the first half of 2027. Meanwhile, Boston Dynamics began producing its electric Atlas robot in January. All of its 2026 deployments are already committed, including work with Google DeepMind. The company has also hired Milan Kovac, Tesla's former head of Optimus, and is deploying robots at a Hyundai plant in Georgia.

The shift in Tesla's timeline follows previous delays. In 2024, Musk suggested internal use in 2025 and high-volume external sales in 2026. By January 2025, he projected the construction of 10,000 robots that year, though he later admitted none were doing useful work by year-end. Tesla's recent shareholder letter described the current output from Fremont as the first production-quality bots, implying earlier units were not. The company promises to release a video within two months showing the robot performing unscripted tasks, a demonstration meant to prove the system's flexibility beyond pre-programmed routines.