Tesla Employees Express Concerns Over Training for Humanoid Robot Production

Tesla is facing challenges in its transition from electric vehicle production to humanoid robots, particularly due to complex robot hands and employee resistance to training for roles that may replace them. This shift comes as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has emphasized the company's future reliance on AI and robotics. Musk has referred to the Optimus humanoid robot as potentially 'the biggest product ever' during Tesla's second-quarter 2026 earnings call. However, he has also noted that creating an autonomous humanoid robot capable of performing various tasks is 'one of the hardest things to solve.' Recent reporting by The Information has highlighted several complications that Tesla is addressing in the development of general-purpose robots and the scaling up of mass production. As of May 2026, Tesla's Fremont factory in California has ceased production of the Model S sedan and Model X SUV, reallocating both line workers and engineers to the Optimus project, according to The Information.