Tesla Targets 1 Million Optimus Humanoid Robots Annually, Production to Begin July-August 2026

Gate News message, April 23 — Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed during the company’s Q1 earnings call that the third-generation Optimus humanoid robot will enter production in late July or August 2026 at the Fremont, California factory. The company has unveiled its most comprehensive production roadmap to date, targeting annual output of 1 million units from the first-generation production line, with a second-generation line at the Texas Gigafactory aiming for 10 million units long-term.

Musk reiterated his belief that humanoid robots will become Tesla’s most important product ever and potentially one of the most significant in human history. The third-generation Optimus will feature advanced hand design and sufficient local intelligence to operate without internet connectivity for hours without supervision. “It basically looks like a person; people will easily mistake it for a human,” Musk said.

Tesla’s capital expenditure will exceed $25 billion in 2026, up from the previously guided $20 billion, driven by investments in battery, powertrain, AI software, AI training, chip design and manufacturing. CFO Vaibhav Taneja disclosed the revised capex guidance. Tesla reported Q1 revenue of $22.387 billion, up 16% year-over-year, with net income of $477 million (up 17%) and adjusted net income of $1.453 billion (up 56%).

On chip and compute infrastructure, Tesla will utilize Intel’s 14A process for its Terafab project, which aims to produce over 1 terawatt of annual compute output. The company has completed the final design of its next-generation AI 5 inference processor and brought the Cortex 2 AI training cluster online. Intel’s stock rose over 3% on the news.

Regarding Full Self-Driving (FSD), Tesla released V14.3 in North America in April, improving handling of extreme edge cases and reducing inference latency by up to 20%. Musk indicated that V14.3 represents the final piece for unsupervised FSD, with the no-safety-driver version expected to launch in Q4 2026 using a gradual rollout approach. Tesla’s cumulative autonomous driving mileage has surpassed 9.38 billion miles (approximately 15.1 billion kilometers), including over 3.37 billion miles in urban scenarios. The company received FSD approval in the Netherlands in April.

Tesla’s Robotaxi service continues expanding, with Q1 paid miles nearly doubling sequentially. The first Cybercab production unit rolled off the line at the Texas Gigafactory in February, featuring no steering wheel or pedals. Service has expanded to Houston and Dallas with safety drivers removed. Tesla plans to launch Robotaxi in five cities across Arizona, Florida, and Nevada in H1 2026, progressively eliminating in-vehicle safety drivers. Musk emphasized zero accidents or injuries to date. By year-end, the company expects to expand to a dozen or more U.S. states. Musk cautioned that Robotaxi revenue may not be significant this year but will have substantial impact in 2027.

Electric vehicle business remains Tesla’s core revenue driver, generating $16.234 billion in Q1, up 16% year-over-year. Cybercab and Tesla Semi will begin production this year, with new Roadster potentially launching within a month. In-hand order backlog has reached the highest level in over two years. Musk noted that battery supply, particularly battery pack capacity, remains the key constraint on production ramp. Tesla is accelerating localization of battery and material production, including LFP batteries, cathode materials, and lithium refining projects.