Tesla starts early production of Optimus robot, plans robotaxi launch in Dallas

Tesla has started early production of its Optimus humanoid robot at its factory in Fremont, California, the company said Wednesday as it reported third-quarter results. On a call with analysts, CEO Elon Musk tempered expectations. He said reaching a rate of 20,000 units a week would take "at least a year, maybe a little longer," and that deliveries to outside customers could begin around the end of 2027. "I remain convinced that Optimus will be the biggest product on Earth," Musk said. Tesla plans to put its new AI5 chip into the robot around April next year.

Tesla executive Ashok Elluswamy said the company's robotaxi service would launch in Dallas next month. He said Tesla now operates in six cities, and the company aims to run the service around the clock by the end of the year. The steering-wheel-free Cybercab currently operates only in Austin. "We are trying to get Cybercabs to customers by the end of this year, 2026," executive Lars Moravy said. Elluswamy said the first customer-owned vehicles could join the robotaxi fleet around the second quarter of next year. Active Full Self-Driving subscriptions, a figure that includes upfront purchases, rose 67% to 1.74 million.

The quarter's financial results were mixed. Revenue was flat at $28.05 billion, while net income fell 43% to $787 million and research and development spending jumped 69%. Adjusted earnings of 48 cents a share beat analyst estimates. Tesla cut its 2026 capital spending forecast to about $20 billion from more than $25 billion. CFO Vaibhav Taneja said the company plans to fund the spending mainly from operating cash flow. The shares fell about 2.2% in after-hours trading.