Tesla is taking a strategic pause in its Optimus humanoid robot program to implement a wave of hardware and software upgrades aimed at significantly enhancing the robot’s performance and long-term reliability.
According to a report from AInvest, citing two unnamed Chinese suppliers, Tesla has temporarily halted procurement of Optimus parts while it works on redesigning key systems. These enhancements focus on improving thermal control in certain joint actuators, increasing the load capacity of the robot’s dexterous hands, extending the lifespan of its transmission components, and boosting overall battery performance.
The temporary slowdown is reportedly expected to last around two months. Once the redesign is finalized, Tesla is expected to resume procurement and announce a new mass production plan.
According to the supplier report, Tesla had already sourced enough parts to build over 1,200 Optimus units earlier this year, and as many of 1,000 of those have been built. However, the redesign may delay broader rollout plans originally targeted for 2025, which included ambitions to scale production to as many as 10,000 units annually.
Elon Musk has long emphasized the transformative potential of Optimus, suggesting it could one day be more valuable than the company’s vehicle business. Musk recently hinted on social media that the latest version of Optimus includes substantial upgrades over the second-generation model introduced in 2023.
Optimus V3 is going to be
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2025
Excellent review w @Tesla_Optimus team
According to the latest update from Musk last week, the updated version also features voice interaction powered by Grok, pointing to a more natural and intuitive human-robot interface.
Already does
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 25, 2025
Part of the recent shift includes a leadership change within the Optimus division. Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla’s Senior Vice President of Autopilot and AI, has reportedly taken over responsibility for the robot’s development following the departure of Milan Kovac last month, who left the company for personal reasons.
