Tesla Optimus Robot Surprises Critics

Image: Tesla

Tesla shares surprising Optimus development progress, prepares for Robotaxi rollout, and India market entry. Welcome to Jowua's roundup of Tesla news.

Tesla Eyes Land for India's First Assembly Plant in Satara

According to a Business Standard report, Tesla is eyeing land in Satara, Maharashtra, to set up a new assembly plant. The plan is to operate the factory as a Completely Knocked Down (CKD) facility. This means the company will ship car parts to India and assemble the vehicles there. This will ensure lower duties on imported cars. According to reports, the first assembled units are expected to roll off the assembly line in 2026.

Optimus Robot Progress Surprises

This week, Tesla shared a video showing its Optimus robot performing various dance moves. The point was to show the stability and smoothness of the robot, equipped with 40 electromechanical actuators. The new video shows huge progress from an idea and a non-existent prototype in 2021 to a truly useful unit in 2025.

According to the Q1 2025 information announced by Tesla, the company has already begun limited production of the Optimus bot at the Fremont factory. Elon Musk announced plans to produce more than 1,000 units of the bipedal robot for internal use in 2025. Production for sale is scheduled to begin in 2026.

Hiring to Expand the Optimus Program

Along with the published video, it became known that Tesla is also recruiting data collectors to improve Optimus. The operators will be responsible for collecting data, processing engineering requests, and providing feedback on the equipment.

Tesla Builds Cortex 2.0 Supercomputer Complex at Giga Texas

The company already has a supercomputer cluster at the Giga Texas complex, but it is expanding. Joe Tegtmeyer, whose drone regularly flies over Giga Texas, saw that work is currently underway on a new facility for Cortex 2.0. According to him, Tesla has been building the facility on the north side of the complex for several months. The site was originally listed as a Central Campus support facility, but the applications were recently updated to Cortex 2.0. Work is currently underway on the shell of the Cortex 2.0 building, but permits for other parts of the future facility have already been filed.

Tesla Preparing for Robotaxi Launch

In preparation for the imminent rollout of Robotaxi in Austin in June, Tesla is working on an app for it. According to Tesla App Updates, the company has added the name Alicorn to the Tesla App, which was only revealed through a decompilation of the app. According to earlier information, the initial rollout will be modest, with only about 10-20 cars for testing. The driver will be in the driver's seat, but the car will be controlled by FSD (Full Self-Driving).

Robotaxi International Deployment

While Robotaxi has not yet been deployed anywhere, Tesla already has plans to bring the service internationally. According to Elon Musk's announcement Tuesday at the Saudi-American Investment Forum, the Robotaxi platform will eventually appear in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Obviously, this statement does not indicate market entry is imminent, but rather the company's general plan to expand Robotaxi outside the United States.