Tesla Shows Optimus R&D Line, as AI Lead Clarifies ''Completely Different'' Scaled Line is Coming

Tesla's 2025 annual shareholder meeting on Thursday provided a clarifying, two-part update on the Optimus humanoid robot: a video of the current assembly line, and a new, specific cost target from CEO Elon Musk.

The video, which played during the event, offered the first significant look at the company's current manufacturing efforts. It showed Tesla staff on a "prototype production line" working on various components and assembling robots, giving shareholders a tangible glimpse of how the humanoids are being built today.

However, the project's AI lead, Julian Ibarz, quickly took to X (formerly Twitter) to manage expectations and provide crucial context.

"Just to be clear, this is our prototype production line that we are using today for our current R&D efforts," Ibarz posted. "The real scalable production line that will come online next year will not just be bigger, it will be completely different."

From R&D to Mass Production

Ibarz's clarification draws a sharp line between the current R&D assembly—likely focused on building the next-generation "V3" prototypes slated for a Q1 2026 reveal —and the "real" mass-production system Tesla aims to build.

That "real" line is presumably the 1-million-unit-per-year line that CEO Elon Musk recently stated the company is "starting with building... in Fremont". This has been a consistent target, with Musk first mentioning the 1-million-unit goal during the Q3 2025 earnings call.

During the shareholder meeting, Musk provided a new and highly anticipated financial target for the robot. He stated that the cost of production for Optimus is "around $20,000 per unit" in current-year dollars.

The 1-Million Robot Milestone

Musk also reiterated what he sees as the project's three greatest difficulties: engineering the hand and forearm, developing "real-world AI," and manufacturing at scale. He has previously called the hand the "single greatest electromechanical challenge" and noted the "immense" manufacturing challenge is due to a "non-existent" supply chain.

The focus on production scale was underscored by the CEO's compensation plan, which shareholders voted to approve at the meeting. The ambitious package includes a milestone contingent on Tesla successfully deploying one million Optimus humanoid robots.

While the video provided a welcome look at the current state, Ibarz's comment highlights the project's true dual-challenge: Tesla isn't just trying to build a robot; it's trying to build a "completely different" kind of factory to manufacture them by the million.