Tesla production line in Fremont set to build Optimus robots, Elon Musk says

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company’s Fremont, California production line that had been used for the Model S and Model X is now being used to build Optimus humanoid robots. In a social media post referenced by market coverage, Musk described walking the “Optimus production line in Fremont,” along with a photo showing him at the facility with Tesla employees.

The remark builds on Tesla’s earlier plan to end Model S and Model X production and convert the Fremont plant’s lines to robotics. Tesla announced in late January that it would discontinue the vehicles and shift that manufacturing capacity toward Optimus, according to reporting that drew on Musk’s earnings-call comments.

The Optimus effort is Tesla’s attempt to commercialize physical AI through a humanoid robot platform. In the same coverage of Musk’s latest comment, Tesla’s VP of Vehicle Engineering, Lars Moravy, was quoted discussing the assembly line buildout for the first production line, describing it as modular. Moravy also suggested that because Optimus is “smaller than a car,” the “bring-up” process for production could be comparatively quick, and that the line design would involve multiple production lines due to the robot’s actuator and mechanical complexity.

Benzinga’s report also tied the Fremont conversion to Musk’s longer-running target for Optimus production. During Tesla’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call, Musk said the company was targeting to produce a million units of the Optimus robot. That figure, while not a confirmed near-term manufacturing forecast, frames the scale Tesla leadership is aiming to reach as it transitions parts of its factory system away from traditional vehicle throughput.

If the Fremont line shift proceeds as described, Tesla would be leaning into robotics using the manufacturing muscle and automation know-how it has developed for electric vehicles. That includes applying plant engineering methods to a product with a very different form factor than cars, but with a similar need for high repeatability, quality control, and production-line integration.

Still, the company has not publicly disclosed in the materials referenced here how many Optimus units the Fremont line will produce initially, what timelines it expects for stable output, or what specific performance and cost targets the production effort is designed to meet. The posts and quoted remarks also do not provide details on whether the line is fully installed, fully operational, or ramping in stages.

For investors and industry watchers, the key next indicates will likely be measurable production milestones, any changes in Tesla’s guidance or operating expense priorities tied to robotics, and whether Tesla communicates more concrete results from Optimus manufacturing progress at Fremont. Tesla’s factory conversion narrative has now advanced from planning and reported line-installation progress to Musk’s on-site depiction of Optimus assembly, but the market will still need production data to assess pace and scale.