Tesla Pushes Optimus Deliveries to 2027, Cites Hand Durability
Tesla's CEO says the humanoid robot won't reach customers until late next year due to issues with hand reliability, durability, and AI.
By Priya Sharma ·
Elon Musk announced on Tesla's Q3 2026 earnings call that the company will delay external deliveries of its Optimus robot until approximately the end of 2027. The postponement is attributed to three specific technical hurdles that still need to be resolved: the artificial intelligence architecture, the robot's physical durability, and the electromechanical design of its hands.
Musk stated that Tesla has begun early production of Optimus on a high-volume line in Fremont. While most of the machinery designed to produce 20,000 units a week is installed, reaching that rate will take at least a year because parts of the design are still changing. A Tesla engineer specifically identified the hands and custom gears as areas carrying reliability concerns. Musk elaborated that the fingers must be soft enough to handle delicate objects but durable enough to withstand constant wear, noting that robots cannot heal like human skin.
Regarding the software side, Tesla is addressing problems within its AI architecture. The company plans to build a fleet of 10,000 to 20,000 robots to practice tasks in an initiative called an Optimus Academy, as it lacks a large fleet of robots to collect data. Tesla also intends to install its AI5 chip into Optimus around April 2027. Musk promised a video demonstration within a month or two showing the robot performing tasks that are not pre-programmed.
The timeline for Optimus has shifted repeatedly since its introduction. In 2024, Musk indicated that high-volume production for external customers would begin in 2026, while a January 2025 statement projected building 10,000 robots that year with several thousand performing useful work by year-end. Tesla later acknowledged that none of the units met that goal. The company's Q3 shareholder letter now characterizes the current output as the first production-quality bots manufactured.
Musk claimed on the call that 'there is no one that is even close to Tesla' regarding general-purpose humanoid robots. However, competitors appear to be operating on similar or accelerated schedules. XPeng has turned on an automated production line for its IRON robot in Guangzhou and plans mass production by the end of 2026, with deliveries starting in the first half of 2027. Boston Dynamics has already begun producing its electric Atlas and reports that all 2026 deployments are committed, including a project with Google DeepMind.
Tesla faces the same fundamental challenges as other manufacturers: creating hands that survive industrial work and AI capable of generalization. While Tesla may be producing robots in volume, the company has yet to deliver them to external customers. Both XPeng and Boston Dynamics are pursuing similar timelines, with Boston Dynamics currently integrating robots into a Hyundai plant in Georgia.
Source: Electrek
