Tesla workers balk at training Optimus as Fremont plant stops Model S/X production
Ars Technica AI · rss · 2026-09-26
Citing The Information, Ars Technica reports mounting trouble in Tesla's pivot to the Optimus humanoid robot.
- The Fremont factory stopped making Model S/X in May 2026, with line workers and engineers reassigned to Optimus
- Some employees resist training the robots that could replace them
- Complex robot hands remain a key technical bottleneck
- Musk called Optimus potentially 'the biggest product ever' on the Q2 2026 earnings call while admitting general-purpose autonomy is 'one of the hardest things to solve' — a track record of unfulfilled predictions looms over the bet.
More from Companies & People
- Microsoft Surface execs on the Arm bet with Qualcomm and the AI PC future — BenBajarin · 2026-09-26
- Alibaba Claims RSI Progress: Qwen3.8-Max Self-Improved Its AA Score From 40 to 45 Over 33 Autonomous Cycles — teortaxesTex · 2026-09-26
- SV founder mix shifted: more mercenary miners now that the AI gold rush is obvious — zebird0 · 2026-09-26
- Deep tech building means compressing 6-year goals into 6-month sprints, says Exoanthropic founder — beffjezos · 2026-09-26
- Three new Lenny Summit talks: Stripe design head on scaling quality with AI — lennysan · 2026-09-26
- Google DeepMind launches Polaris team to build eval frameworks for AI coding agents — JMateosGarcia · 2026-09-26