Figure 03 vs Tesla Optimus (2026)
The short answer: You can't buy either robot today, anywhere in the world. Figure 03 is further along in public. It has a full spec sheet, a factory that says it has built more than 1,000 units, and named business pilots in the US. Tesla's Optimus Gen 3 went into "early production" in Fremont in October 2026, but Tesla has not shown it in public or published its specs, and says outside deliveries are about a year away.
At a glance
| Figure 03 | Tesla Optimus (Gen 3 / V3) | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Figure AI (California, US) | Tesla (US) |
| Unveiled | 9 October 2025 | Not yet shown in public (as of 6 November 2026) |
| Production | BotQ factory, San Jose; 1,000th unit marked 23 July 2026 | "Early production" on Fremont high-volume line from October 2026 |
| Spec sheet | Published | Not published |
| Price | Not announced | Not announced |
| Can you get one? | Selected business partners only | No; outside companies from about end of 2027 (Tesla's target) |
| UK | No UK plans announced | No UK plans announced |
Where each robot stands (7 November 2026)
Figure 03
- Launch. Figure introduced Figure 03 on 9 October 2025 as its third-generation humanoid, "designed for Helix, the home, and the world at scale" (Figure).
- Factory. Figure's BotQ plant was designed for up to 12,000 robots a year, with a goal of 100,000 robots over four years. These are capacity and goal figures, not output.
- Output so far. In April 2026 Figure said it had delivered more than 350 Figure 03s from BotQ and had "successfully demonstrated the one robot per hour cycle time". Founder Brett Adcock marked the 1,000th Figure 03 on 23 July 2026. The Gadgeteer worked out that this means fewer than eight robots a day between April and July, not 24.
- Latest. On 2 November 2026 Adcock posted a roughly 19-second clip captioned "Newly manufactured F.03 robots leaving BotQ and heading across campus." He gave no robot count, no new production total and no word on whether the walk was autonomous.
- AI. Figure's Helix 2.5 (17 September 2026) was tested in 30 Bay Area homes it had never seen. Figure reports a 56% full-task success rate, with no partial credit. Figure's own post says: "The point is not that general humanoid robotics is solved."
- Money and compute. Figure announced a deal with Nscale on 3 September 2026 for up to 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs, starting in the second half of 2027, with an initial $3.5 billion compute commitment.
Tesla Optimus
- Production start. Tesla's Q3 2026 update (21 October 2026) says: "Optimus production began in Fremont on our high-volume lines. The bots coming off this line are the first production-quality bots that we have manufactured." Its capacity table lists Fremont as "Early Ramp" and Texas as "Construction". It gives no unit count.
- Musk's timeline (Q3 2026 earnings call). He called it "what I'd call early production". He said reaching about 20,000 robots a week "takes us probably at least a year, maybe a little longer". He expects to deliver to "companies outside of Tesla" around the end of 2027.
- Musk's caveats. On the same call he said "there's still quite a lot of work to do with regard to the AI and the robot for it to be truly useful for open-ended tasks". Tesla engineer Konstantinos Laskaris called the hand "one of the most challenging hardware areas", and Musk said the remaining design work is "mostly the hand".
- Next steps Musk named. A video of Optimus "doing things that are not preprogrammed" in "a month or 2". Then Tesla's AI5 chip in Optimus around April 2027, "if things go according to plan".
- Rent, not sell. At the Baron Investment Conference (reported 6 November 2026), asked whether Tesla would rent or sell Optimus, Musk said: "I think probably rent them."
- Reservations (reported, not confirmed). The San Francisco Standard, via Humanoids Summit founder Modar Alaoui, reported that Tesla plans to open Optimus reservations around the 1–2 December 2026 Humanoids Summit. Tesla did not respond to the publication's request for comment.
- Track record. In January 2026 Musk said Optimus is "not in usage in our factories in a material way". A year earlier he had said several thousand would be "doing useful things" by the end of 2025.
Published specs side by side
Figure's numbers come from Figure's own product and news pages. Tesla has not published a spec sheet for Optimus Gen 3. Where we show a Tesla figure, it is labelled with where it comes from.
| Spec | Figure 03 | Tesla Optimus Gen 3 / V3 |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (about 173 cm) | Not published for Gen 3. Tesla's long-stated design target: 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) |
| Weight | 61 kg | Not published for Gen 3. Long-stated design target: 57 kg (125 lb) |
| Payload | 20 kg | Not published for Gen 3 |
| Battery | 2.3 kWh | Not published |
| Runtime | 5 hours "at peak performance" | Not published |
| Charging | 2 kW wireless, through coils in the feet | Not published |
| Top speed | 1.2 m/s | Not published |
| Hands | Palm cameras; fingertip sensors that detect about 3 g. Degrees of freedom: not published | 22 degrees of freedom per hand (claimed by Musk in 2024, not on a Tesla spec sheet). Gen 2 hands: 11 |
| AI system | Helix, Figure's own vision-language-action model (now Helix 2.5), runs on board | End-to-end neural networks; AI5 chip planned for about April 2027 |
| Data link | 10 Gbps mmWave wireless offload | Not published |
| Battery safety | Certified to UN38.3 (Figure) | Not published |
Notes on the table
- Tesla's 173 cm and 57 kg figures date from its 2021 AI Day. Wikipedia describes them as what Optimus is "planned" to measure. Treat them as design intent, not a measured Gen 3.
- Some third-party sites list exact Gen 3 specs (speed, runtime, total joints). None of those come from Tesla, so we don't repeat them.
- Figure has published no hand degree-of-freedom count, no actuator count and no lifting figure beyond its 20 kg payload.
Shown in public vs only claimed
Figure 03
Shown in public or confirmed by someone other than Figure
- BMW Spartanburg (US). BMW's own newsroom says Figure 03 started work on "complex sequencing applications in logistics" in June 2026, and BMW published its own photos and video. BMW also credits the earlier Figure 02 with supporting production of more than 30,000 BMW X3s.
- Livestreamed package sorting (May 2026). Figure streamed robots sorting packages on a conveyor. Adcock told Bloomberg Technology the run had lasted close to 50 hours and moved nearly 60,000 packages. These figures come from Figure, not an independent audit.
Claimed by Figure, not independently checked
- Helix 2.5's 56% success in 30 unseen homes. Figure set the test rules and ran the test.
- Figure says its Helix 02 videos are "fully autonomous, not teleoperated" (as quoted by Robotica Guide).
- Production totals (more than 350 by April; 1,000th in July) and the one-robot-per-hour cycle time.
Fair questions raised by credible reporting
- Teleoperation. When viewers suggested the May livestream was remote-controlled, Adcock told Bloomberg: "There's absolutely no teleoperation involved in this." Nobody has published evidence that it was teleoperated, and nobody has independently verified that it wasn't. Figure did not say whether the 2 November campus walk was autonomous.
- Scale at BMW. Forbes (5 October 2026) reported that BMW said only one Figure robot worked at a time during the 2025 Figure 02 pilot, with a second on site to swap in. Adcock had described it on social media as a "fleet of robots performing end-to-end operations". Forbes also reported BMW saying the June 2026 Figure 03 project was a non-production test with two or three robots, and that it has ended.
Tesla Optimus
Shown in public
- Gen 2 video (December 2023) and public appearances since: the October 2024 "We, Robot" event, the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles, a London meet-and-greet on 13 December 2025 and Berlin on 20 December 2025, mostly greeting people and handing out popcorn.
- Tesla's own factory claims. Tesla's Q3 deck states that production-quality robots are coming off the Fremont line. No outside party has published footage of that line at volume, and Tesla gives no count.
Fair questions raised by credible reporting
- We, Robot (October 2024). Bloomberg, The Verge and others reported that humans remotely operated many of the robots' interactions with guests, as TechCrunch summarised. Sources told Bloomberg the robots could walk on their own using AI.
- Shirt-folding video (January 2024). Viewers spotted a gloved hand at the edge of the frame mirroring the robot's movements, which suggested teleoperation (Business Insider, cited by Wikipedia).
- Miami fall (December 2025). An Optimus handing out water fell backwards. Viewers said its hand motion looked like an operator taking off a VR headset. The cause was not confirmed.
- Gen 3 itself. Tesla has not unveiled Gen 3 in public or published its specs. Musk says a demo video is coming, and wants it to show tasks that are "not preprogrammed".
Our read. Both companies mostly control what we see. Figure publishes far more detail, and an outside company (BMW) has confirmed it used Figure robots. Tesla has the bigger factory claims and the bigger promises, but less public evidence of the current robot.
Who can actually get one
| Figure 03 | Tesla Optimus | |
|---|---|---|
| Consumers, US | No. No price, order page, waitlist or delivery date. Figure has tested in 30 Bay Area homes, but those were evaluation homes, not customers | No. Reservations reportedly planned for early December 2026 (not confirmed by Tesla) |
| Businesses, US | Selected partners only, under private agreements. Named: BMW (Spartanburg, South Carolina) and Catalyst Brands (Reno, Nevada distribution centre). Robot counts not disclosed | No outside customers yet. Musk targets deliveries to outside companies around the end of 2027, starting with industrial work, probably as rentals |
| Globally | No markets outside the US announced | No markets announced |
| UK | Nothing announced: no UK price, partner or date | Nothing announced. Optimus has appeared in London (December 2025) for a meet-and-greet, not for sale |
UK buyers: Be wary of any UK seller claiming to offer either robot. Neither maker has a UK sales channel.
Prices: what's announced, what's an estimate
Neither company has published a price you can pay.
| Figure 03 | Tesla Optimus | |
|---|---|---|
| Announced price | None | None |
| What the boss has said | Estimate (CEO comment, not an offer): In a May 2026 factory tour, Adcock described a car-style home lease of roughly $400 to $600 a month (Humanoids Daily). No lease programme has opened | Estimate (CEO target): Musk said at We, Robot (October 2024) it would cost $20,000 to $30,000 "long term" (The Verge). In November 2026 he agreed build cost would start around $30,000 a robot and fall towards $20,000, and said Tesla would "probably rent" Optimus (Not a Tesla App) |
| Business pricing | Private agreements; terms not public | No terms announced |
Important: Tesla's November 2025 goal of "$20k COGS" is what a robot would cost Tesla to build, not what you would pay (Offbrand Human). Prices for Figure 03 on some third-party sites don't come from Figure.
Which should you watch?
Watch Figure 03 if you want the most evidence today. It has a full spec sheet, a working factory with a stated output, an outside carmaker confirming its robots did real work, and a published home-testing method. The open questions are scale and business: how many robots are actually with customers, what they cost, and whether a home product will ever have a date.
Watch Tesla Optimus if you're betting on volume and price. Tesla is building a line it says is designed for a million robots a year, has named a cost target of about $20,000 to $30,000, and has the money to keep going. The open questions are the robot itself: Gen 3 hasn't been shown, the hand is still changing, and outside deliveries are about a year away on Tesla's own timeline.
Our verdict: For 2026, Figure 03 is the robot that has shown more. Optimus is the one making the bigger promises. The next three things to look for are Tesla's Gen 3 demo and any December reservation terms, and an independently checked customer count from Figure.
Sources
- https://www.figure.ai/news/introducing-figure-03
- https://www.figure.ai/figure
- https://www.figure.ai/news/f-03-battery-development
- https://www.figure.ai/news/helix-2-5-zero-shot-30-home-generalization
- https://www.figure.ai/news/f-03-at-bmw
- https://www.figure.ai/news/figure-and-nscale-sign-strategic-partnership
- https://roboticaguide.com/figure-03-specs-helix-botq-what-is-undisclosed/
- https://the-gadgeteer.com/2026/11/03/figure-03-humanoids-walk-out-of-botq
- https://www.humanoidsdaily.com/news/figure-03-robots-leave-botq-campus-video
- https://www.humanoidsdaily.com/news/inside-the-campus-figure-s-plan-for-24-7-autonomy-and-leasable-home-robots
- https://orply.com/articles/bloomberg-technology/figure-ceo-says-no-teleoperation-in-their-humanoid-robot-testing-fbb71f3c
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/annatong/2026/10/05/brett-adcock-sold-investors-a-humanoid-future-now-he-has-to-build-it/
- https://forbes.es/actualidad/1037873/brett-adcock-figure-humanoides-futuro/
- https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/bmw-group-advances-the-use-of-physical-ai-in-production-with-figure-03-project-in-spartanburg/
- https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/photo/detail/P90646721/Humanoid-robot-Figure-03-at-BMW-Group-Plant-Spartanburg
- https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/info/legal
- https://assets-ir.tesla.com/tesla-contents/IR/TSLA-Q3-2026-Update.pdf
- https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2026/10/22/tesla-tsla-q3-2026-earnings-call-transcript/
- https://www.notateslaapp.com/news/4959/musk-tesla-will-rent-optimus-robots-instead-of-selling-them
- https://www.humanoidsdaily.com/news/tesla-optimus-reservations-december-humanoids-summit
- https://www.humanoidsdaily.com/robots/tesla-optimus
- https://www.offbrandhuman.com/blog/optimus-gen-2-vs-gen-3
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_(robot)
- https://electrek.co/2026/01/28/musk-admits-no-optimus-robots-are-doing-useful-work-at-tesla-after-claiming-otherwise/
- https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/14/tesla-optimus-bots-were-controlled-by-humans-during-the-we-robot-event/
- https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/10/24267225/tesla-robotaxi-optimus-we-robot
- https://interestingengineering.com/ai-robotics/teslas-optimus-falls-in-miami-demo
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Optimus_bot_at_Tesla_showroom_-20251118-_01.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Optimus_Tesla.jpg
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy a Figure 03 or a Tesla Optimus today?
No. As of 7 November 2026, neither robot is for sale to consumers anywhere. Figure 03 is available only to selected business partners under private agreements. Tesla has no outside customers yet.
How much will they cost?
Neither has an announced price. Figure's CEO has floated a home lease of roughly $400 to $600 a month. Musk has said Optimus would cost $20,000 to $30,000 "long term" and that Tesla will probably rent rather than sell it. Treat both as estimates.
Are these robots remote-controlled?
Figure says its demos are fully autonomous, and its CEO denied teleoperation in the May 2026 livestream. That hasn't been independently verified. Several Tesla Optimus public appearances, notably the October 2024 We, Robot event, were reported to involve human remote control.
When will Optimus be available?
Musk says deliveries to companies outside Tesla should start around the end of 2027, starting with industrial jobs. He has not given a date for home buyers. Reservations were reported to open in early December 2026, but Tesla hadn't confirmed that.
Are either available in the UK?
No. Neither Figure nor Tesla has announced a UK price, partner or launch date. Optimus has made public appearances in London, but only as a demonstration.
Which robot has better specs?
Only Figure has published a full spec sheet: 61 kg, 20 kg payload, 5-hour runtime, 1.2 m/s. Tesla hasn't published specs for Optimus Gen 3, so a fair spec-by-spec comparison isn't possible yet. ---