Tesla to Begin Optimus Robot Training at Gigafactory Texas as Early as February: Report

After more than a year of development and training in California, Tesla is reportedly expanding its Optimus humanoid robot program to Texas, which will soon serve as a large-scale training site, allowing the company to collect real-world factory data as it pushes the robot closer to widespread industrial deployment.

According to a report from Business Insider, employees at the factory were briefed on the plan during a recent town hall, where Tesla outlined its intention to begin Optimus training as early as February. The move expands a program that has been running quietly for more than a year at Tesla’s Fremont, California plant, moving Optimus from a controlled development environment into one of Tesla’s most complex manufacturing sites.

At Fremont, Tesla has relied on a dedicated group of data collectors to generate training material for Optimus. These workers wear multi-camera helmets connected to backpacks while performing everyday factory jobs, such as organizing vehicle components or working along conveyor belts. The recorded footage is then fed into Tesla’s neural networks, allowing the robot to learn human motions through imitation rather than direct programming.

Optimus working at the Tesla factory pic.twitter.com/0RqXtiCET6
— Dima Zeniuk (@DimaZeniuk) June 14, 2024

This camera-based approach represents a shift away from Tesla’s earlier reliance on motion-capture suits and teleoperation, which limited the amount of data that could be collected. By capturing large volumes of video directly from factory tasks, Tesla can scale training much faster. The company has also experimented with lighter recording setups, including a fanny pack-style system, though it remains unclear which configuration will be used in Austin.

Training Optimus inside Giga Texas could offer significant advantages. Unlike Fremont, Austin is one of Tesla’s newest and largest manufacturing hubs, producing the Model Y and Cybertruck, and soon Cybercab. Teaching Optimus to operate in this environment may accelerate its ability to handle varied and increasingly complex tasks across Tesla’s operations.

Trying to be useful lately! pic.twitter.com/TlPF9YB61W
— Tesla Optimus (@Tesla_Optimus) May 5, 2024

Elon Musk confirmed at the World Economic Forum last week in Davos that Optimus units are already active inside Tesla facilities, saying the robots are performing “simple tasks” today. He added that Tesla expects them to take on “more complex tasks” by the end of 2026, with consumer-ready humanoid robots potentially available by the end of 2027.

Musk has repeatedly described Optimus as potentially Tesla’s “biggest product of all time,” envisioning uses that range from factory automation and household assistance to operating data centers in space.

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