Tesla has been specific about Optimus capacity and quiet about Optimus output. Across four quarterly updates filed with the SEC since January, the company has described a Fremont line designed for 1 million robots a year and a Texas line designed for 10 million. None of those updates says how many robots have been built.

How the plan was described, quarter by quarter

  • January 28. The Q4 2025 update said Tesla planned to unveil a Gen 3 Optimus in the first quarter and called it “our first design meant for mass production.” It set start of production “before the end of 2026” with an “eventual planned capacity of 1 million robots per year.”
  • April 22. The Q1 2026 update said the first-generation line, “designed for 1 million robots a year,” would replace the Model S and Model X lines in Fremont, and that Gigafactory Texas was being prepared for a second-generation line “being designed for long-term annual production capacity of 10 million robots.”
  • July 22. The Q2 2026 update said the Model S and X lines had been decommissioned and the first Optimus lines were being installed, “where we expect to start production soon.” Both Optimus rows in the capacity table read “Construction”.
  • October 21. The Q3 2026 update said production had begun in Fremont. California moved to “Early Ramp”; Texas stayed at “Construction”. Neither row lists a capacity number.

On its own terms, Tesla hit the January goal of starting production before the end of 2026. The Gen 3 unveiling planned for the first quarter is harder to place: none of the later updates mentions it, and the Q3 update does not say which version Fremont is building.

Planned capacity is not output

Tesla’s own table warns against reading it as output. The July edition said “Installed capacity ≠ current production rate and there may be limitations discovered as production rates approach capacity.” A line designed for 1 million robots a year tells you what the tooling is meant to handle once everything works. It says nothing about this month.

Where early robots go

Output alone would not settle much either, because Tesla plans to keep many of the first robots. The Q2 update said initial builds would go to its Optimus Academy for training data collection. Early output used for training is not the same as sales to customers.

Tesla has reported the start of production in Fremont. It has not published a robot production total or said when that line will reach its planned capacity.