Tesla Optimus Gen 2

What it's for

Optimus Gen 2 is Tesla's humanoid from December 2023, and today its main job is to serve as a prototype and template for later generations. It stands 173 cm tall, weighs 57 kg, and has hands with 11 degrees of freedom and tactile sensors on every finger, plus a 20 kg arm payload. Tesla points to its internal factories as the test site: the robot is meant to perform repetitive tasks alongside people, moving parts, sorting them, stacking them. We have seen it in demos: in September 2023 Tesla showed Optimus sorting blocks and holding yoga poses, and in December 2025 it appeared in London, greeting the audience and handing out popcorn, and in Berlin. Industrial application: “Factories and manufacturing”. Keep in mind, though, that Gen 2 is not a product: it is a development stage tested inside the company, and since the launch of Gen 3 its role has come down to being a reference point. The drive relies on actuators with a planetary roller-screw gearbox, covered in more detail in “Actuators in Humanoid Robots”. Consumer uses, for instance in homes, Tesla announces for later models, not for this generation.

Who it's for

Makes sense for: readers who want to understand the starting point of the Optimus program before the third generation, market analysts and people following the humanoid race. Gen 2 serves here as a benchmark for comparisons: 173 cm, 57 kg and a 20 kg payload are the parameters the whole later family is measured against. Who it is not for: anyone planning a purchase. The robot is not sold, and Tesla has not disclosed a sales channel. It is unavailable in Poland and, importantly, cannot be ordered even in the USA. If you are looking for a humanoid for a production hall, look at designs you can buy or rent; a comparison is in “Tesla Optimus: What We Actually Know (as of September 2026)” and in the humanoid robots category.

Deployments

Gen 2 is tested only inside Tesla's factories; there are no outside customers. Its public appearances (London, Berlin) were demonstrations, not work for customers. Humanoids with industrial pilots today are Apptronik designs (a collaboration with Mercedes, see “Apptronik Apollo in Mercedes-Benz Factories”) and Agility Robotics (“Agility Digit in Warehouses”), plus Chinese UBTech models in car plants.

If you are interested in what Tesla plans next, read about Tesla Optimus Gen 3: the same height and mass, but 28 DOF, hands with 22 degrees of freedom and an idea of navigating with cameras alone. For home use Tesla is preparing a separate track: Tesla Optimus. Among humanoids of similar size with real deployments behind them, check Figure 03 (172 cm, 61 kg, 35 DOF, 20 kg payload) and Apptronik Apollo (173 cm, 25 kg payload, 71 DOF), developed with Mercedes factories among others in mind. For warehouse logistics there is Agility Digit 5 with a 22.7 kg payload. And if you actually want to buy a humanoid, Unitree H2 costs USD 29,900 and has Polish distribution. To compare against the history of the project itself, also read Tesla Optimus Gen 1, the first, now retired version, and Atlas, the electric Atlas, with which Optimus is often paired in industry discussions of humanoids for factory work.

The first Optimus concept dates to September 2022 (Gen 1, now retired from the project lineup). In September 2023 Tesla showed the robot sorting blocks and holding yoga poses. December 2023 brought Gen 2: 10 kg lighter according to the manufacturer, with a 30% faster walk and a new two-axis neck. In June 2024 Musk announced limited production in 2025; in October 2024 came the estimated price of USD 30,000. June 2025 brought a change at the head of the program: Milan Kovac left and Ashok Elluswamy took his place. In late 2025 Optimus appeared publicly in London (13 December) and Berlin (20 December). In 2026 Tesla is installing production lines in Fremont and Gigafactory Texas, and in September it showed Gen 3 with a battery of about 2.3 kWh and the AI5 chip; supply-chain reports speak of production on the order of 1,000 units a week by the end of September (reports, not confirmation from Tesla).