Tesla Pauses Optimus Production: Is This Year's Mass Production Plan in Jeopardy?

On July 2, according to a report by WanDian Auto, information from China's supply chain indicates that Tesla is concentrating on adjusting the software and hardware technical details of its humanoid robot, Optimus, and had begun suspending the procurement of Optimus components half a month prior.

The report shows that after taking over the Optimus project, Tesla AI Software Vice President Ashok Elluswamy hopes to drive the mass production plan only after improving the completed design scheme.

According to feedback from Tesla to suppliers, Optimus still faces hardware challenges, including overheating of some joint motors, low load capacity of dexterous hands, short lifespan of transmission devices, and short battery life. Tesla is currently evaluating samples from multiple dexterous hand suppliers, testing at least three different technical approaches. On the software side, Tesla may use more synthetic data to train robot models, thereby improving Optimus's autonomous operation capabilities and success rate in executing complex tasks.

There are also reports stating that as of the end of May this year, Tesla had cumulatively procured parts sufficient for producing 1,200 Optimus units and manufactured nearly 1,000 units, whereas Musk's original plan was to produce 5,000 units this year.

According to two supplier sources cited in the report, due to design adjustments, new mass production plans and the resumption of procurement will not be determined until the Optimus design adjustments are completed. This adjustment is expected to take about two months, and suppliers generally believe that Musk's promise to produce 5,000 units in 2025 is unlikely to be fulfilled.

A source within Tesla told reporters that Optimus is currently only used to "move batteries in Tesla's battery workshop," with a handling efficiency of less than half that of human workers.

Regarding these issues, The Humanoid Hub on social media platform X stated that changing course to solve problems does not mean the Optimus plan is falling apart. When Musk made a difficult turnaround from the predicament of Model 3, he replaced most senior management of Starlink in 2018. Although there were bumps along the way, everything succeeded. Sawyer Merritt on the same platform also stated that Tesla's Optimus plan is not "a complete disaster".

Actually, Optimus has indeed provided significant confidence to the humanoid robot industry along its journey.

As early as August 2021, Tesla announced the development plan for Optimus at its Artificial Intelligence Day (AI Day) event, which received widespread attention from the market.

The official debut of the first-generation Optimus in September 2022 marked Tesla's formal entry into the humanoid robot field.

In December 2023, the second-generation Optimus was launched, featuring improved walking speed and the ability to perform delicate operations such as picking up eggs, offering a glimpse of the practical application of robots.

At the end of 2024, videos of Tesla's dexterous hand and related technologies further accelerated the progress of industry development, prompting numerous companies to invest in the research and development of robots and related components.

Recently, Elon Musk revealed on social media that the new version of Optimus has achieved "significant improvements" over the second generation and integrates voice interaction functions powered by Grok. According to reports citing supply chain sources, the third-generation Optimus may be unveiled at Tesla's shareholder meeting this year.