Tesla has begun production of its Optimus humanoid in California

Tesla has begun production of its Optimus humanoid in California A prototype of Tesla's Optimus robot. CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images Tesla has begun producing its long-awaited humanoid robot, Optimus, at its Fremont factory, the company said in its quarterly earnings report."The bots coming off this line are the first production-quality bots that we have manufactured," Tesla said.The company will continue refining Optimus's hardware and manufacturing process, but added that it has "proven that the current manufacturing process for Optimus is suitable for a commercial product." Tesla did not say when Optimus would become commercially available.Elon Musk previously tempered expectations about how quickly Tesla can scale up Optimus production, warning it would be "agonizingly slow."Tesla stopped producing the Model S and Model X at its Fremont, California, plant earlier this year to make room for an Optimus line designed to eventually produce a million robots a year. A second line under construction in Austin is planned to have an annual capacity of 10 million robots.Tesla is competing in a crowded humanoid market. Agility Robotics, which plans to go public, has deployed its Digit robot across nine customer facilities, while Figure AI has announced deployments in logistics and distribution centers this year. Sunday Robotics, 1X, and Weave Robotics are preparing to ship robots into homes this fall.Have a tip? Contact Rya Jetha via email at rjetha@businessinsider.com or Signal at rjetha.07. Use a personal email address and a non-work device; here's our guide to sharing information securely. Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Rya is a senior reporter at Business Insider covering robotics and physical AI. She writes about factory automation, humanoid robots, and the race to collect the real-world data needed to bring AI into the physical world. She previously worked at The San Francisco Standard, where she reported on tech culture and autonomous vehicles. She has a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College and a master’s from the University of Cambridge. Rya lives in San Francisco. Contact her at rjetha@businessinsider.com or on Signal at rjetha.07. Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device. Here's our guide to sharing information securely. Robotics Elon Musk Tesla More