Tesla AI chief says Optimus robot moves are remote-controlled

Ashok Elluswamy, Tesla's ↗ 4.23% Vice President of AI Software and head of the Optimus humanoid robot program, posted a candid assessment on X on Sunday acknowledging that the movements seen in Optimus demo videos are "essentially remote controlled."basenor

The admission, while not entirely surprising to industry observers, marks a rare moment of public transparency from within Tesla's robotics division. Elluswamy added that solving AI safety for physical robots makes the current discourse around large language model safety look "like child's play."basenor

What Remote Control Means for Optimus

When Optimus performs tasks in demonstrations — picking up objects, walking routes, showing off hand dexterity — a human operator directs those actions at a high level, while onboard systems manage balance, joint coordination, and force. The robot is not yet perceiving its environment, reasoning about next steps, and acting on that reasoning in a closed loop.basenor

The disclosure echoes a pattern. At Tesla's October 2024 "We, Robot" event, Bloomberg reported that employees stationed elsewhere oversaw many interactions between the humanoid machines and attendees, though the robots could walk autonomously using AI. A December 2025 demo incident in Miami also raised questions about the extent of human assistance behind Optimus performances.reddit+1

Elluswamy, who took over the Optimus program in June 2025, has described the core technical challenge as a "curse of dimensionality" — processing enormous sensor inputs and compressing them into precise, low-latency physical outputs like joint torques. Tesla's end-to-end Full Self-Driving system runs its control loop at 36 Hz; a humanoid robot in close proximity to people needs comparable or faster response times with higher stakes for each decision.youtube+1

Factory Construction Advances

The candid update arrives as Tesla's dedicated Optimus production facility at Gigafactory Texas nears a construction milestone. Drone footage released last week by observer Joe Tegtmeyer shows the steel-frame assembly is just a few column bays short of completion on the building's north side, roughly six months after groundbreaking in late March.moomoo+2

Concrete pouring across the factory's three floors has begun in parallel with steel erection — a scheduling method Tesla previously used to accelerate construction of its original Texas Gigafactory. The facility is targeted to begin operations in 2027, with a long-term annual capacity goal of 10 million units.teslabriefing+1

A Familiar Development Arc

Tesla's Fremont factory began mass-producing third-generation Optimus robots in January 2026, primarily to collect real-world data needed to train the robot's AI software before scaled production begins in Texas. Elluswamy has framed the current remote-control stage not as a setback but as part of an incremental development path — the same trajectory Tesla's Full Self-Driving software followed from heavy human intervention toward expanding autonomy.optimusk+2

Whether the end-to-end neural architecture that enabled driverless robotaxi rides in Austin can be adapted for a walking, grasping robot operating in unstructured human environments remains the central open question for the program.