Tesla ramps Optimus to hundreds a week, but its hands are the bottleneck

Managers are reportedly aiming for a continuous automated line producing more than 1,000 robots a week by the end of the year, with an eventual goal of around 20,000 a week. That would be a massive jump from today's output.

The report says Optimus's hand and forearm contain more than 100 screws and small components that workers still assemble manually. Several assembly stations, including hands, joints and electronics testing, reportedly can't consistently align parts that are smaller and tighter-tolerance than anything on a Tesla car. Some of the hand's touch sensors have also had reliability problems. Tesla's fix, according to the report, is a replaceable "sensing glove" planned for next year, so a failed sensor doesn't mean swapping the entire hand.

Tesla depends on outside suppliers, many based in China, for the motors and precision gears that drive Optimus's joints. Some can produce good parts at prototype scale but reportedly struggle to hold quality steady at high volume.

Beyond the hardware, the report notes the robots coming off the line still can't generalize across tasks reliably, a separate problem from manufacturing speed. More: Tesla news.