At Tesla's Q1 2025 All-Hands meeting, CEO Elon Musk announced plans to produce the first significant batch of Optimus humanoid robots this year. The company aims for 10,000 to 12,000 units, with even 5,000 considered a major success. Musk described this initial run as equivalent to a Roman legion.
Tesla's ambitious humanoid robot project, Optimus, took a major step forward during the company's Q1 2025 All-Hands meeting. CEO Elon Musk provided an update on production timelines, emphasizing the robot's potential as the company's largest product ever—potentially ten times bigger than its next most significant offering.
Optimus was first unveiled at Tesla's AI Day in 2021, initially as a mockup demonstrated by a person in a suit. By 2022, the company had developed a working prototype, and progress accelerated, with dozens of the robots interacting with attendees at the Cybercab unveiling in October 2024. Musk noted that the first Optimus humanoid has already been manufactured at the Fremont Factory.
Regarding production ramp-up, Musk outlined internal goals for 2025: preparing enough parts for 10,000 to 12,000 robots, though he tempered expectations given the entirely new nature of the product. "So this year, we hopefully will be able to make about 5,000 Optimus robots. We’re technically aiming for enough parts to make 10,000, maybe 12,000, but since it’s a totally new product with a totally new, like everything is totally new, I’ll say we’re succeeding if we get to half of the 10,000," Musk stated. He added a historical reference, saying, "But even 5,000 robots, that’s the size of a Roman legion, FYI, which is like a little scary thought. Like a whole legion of robots, I’ll be like ‘whoa.’ But I think we will literally build a legion, at least one legion of robots this year, and then probably 10 legions next year. I think it’s kind of a cool unit, you know? Units of legion. So probably 50,000-ish next year."
Looking ahead, Tesla plans to scale production to around 50,000 units in 2026, marking a significant expansion for the robotics initiative.