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Tesla workers balk at training Optimus humanoid robots as replacements
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Tesla’s effort to mass-produce Optimus humanoid robots is facing technical bottlenecks and worker resistance. At its Fremont, California, factory, employees have reportedly shifted from vehicles to Optimus, even as some push back against training their potential replacements. The conflict is central to Elon Musk’s wager that AI and robotics hold Tesla’s future.
Industrial companies have used robotic arms for decades, but Tesla wants a general-purpose machine suited to human workplaces. Musk called Optimus potentially “the biggest product ever” on Tesla’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call. He acknowledged that developing a robot for many tasks is “one of the hardest things to solve.”
Tesla is reportedly producing hundreds of Optimus robots weekly and aims to exceed 1,000 by end-2026. The Optimus V3 model has complicated manufacturing through component-alignment problems and limits on how quickly production equipment can run. Those issues show that scaling remains unfinished.
Tesla stopped producing the Model S sedan and Model X SUV at Fremont in May 2026, reassigning workers and engineers to Optimus. The move concentrates resources on robotics but places employees alongside machines designed eventually to perform their jobs. Worker resistance suggests the transition is not uniformly welcomed.
Robotic hands remain a major engineering challenge because delicate manipulation demands human-like dexterity. Optimus hands and forearms contain more than 100 small components, including screws, and workers still assemble them manually. Human labor remains essential to a product developed as a potential labor substitute.
Technical problems, employee pushback and slow assembly could threaten Tesla’s production target. If Tesla exceeds 1,000 robots weekly, Optimus could extend the company beyond cars into industrial and workplace applications. Its outlook depends on resolving hardware and factory constraints while maintaining worker cooperation.
