Elon Musk pushed back Wednesday against speculation that Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ) is ahead of schedule on production of its Optimus V3 humanoid robot, saying the company’s initial ramp will be extremely slow because Tesla is building an entirely new manufacturing system.
Musk Says Optimus Ramp Starts Slowly
"No, Optimus production will be extremely slow at first, as everything is new. This is not like making a car," Musk wrote in a reply on X.
Musk was responding to an X user named Doctor Jack, who suggested Tesla may have delayed the Optimus V3 demo because the company had realized it was further ahead on production than expected and wanted to prevent competitors from copying its designs. The user predicted a major reveal with many functional robots on stage and news that meaningful production had already begun, citing earlier comments from Tesla executive Lars Moravy.
Musk’s response partially countered that ahead-of-schedule theory. His comments align with his earlier warnings that Optimus production would follow a classic manufacturing S-curve, with slow early output followed by faster scaling.
