Tesla has begun enlisting its workers to help train its humanoid robot, Optimus, by capturing detailed motion data as part of efforts to advance the machine’s capabilities. Employees at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Grünheide, near Berlin, were recently instructed to wear body cameras and motion-tracking backpacks to record their movements during work tasks, according to reports from Germany.
In a leaked internal email sent before the summer holiday period, Tesla described the robot project as a key element of its long-term corporate strategy, emphasizing the need for “real human patterns of motion” to improve the robot’s functionality. Following the factory’s August reopening, select teams have been equipped with sensors to capture how workers perform various manual tasks. The company framed the program as an opportunity for employees to actively contribute to Tesla’s “sustainable prosperity.”
This initiative aligns with growing global trends in industry, where human motion data is employed to teach robots increasingly nuanced workplace movements. Similar approaches are being developed internationally. For example, the Czech start-up RoboTwin offers handheld devices that track workers’ actions to program robots, a technology already in trials at firms across Europe and North America. In China, government-backed training centers rely on “cyber-labourers” to execute basic movements to fine-tune robot actions. Tesla has also advertised for “data collection operators” at its facilities in California to perform set tasks while wearing motion capture sensors.
Despite these technological advances, Tesla’s use of worker data to aid robot training could heighten tensions between the company and the IG Metall trade union, which has already expressed concerns over automation risks at the plant. Some workers may view the project as a step toward their potential replacement by machines.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeatedly vowed that Optimus will revolutionize physical labor, suggesting the robots could supplant electric vehicles as the company’s primary product line. He has projected that Tesla could manufacture as many as one million units annually by 2030. However, the project remains in early stages. Last year, an independent estimate suggested Tesla had produced approximately 150 Optimus prototypes, concentrated at its Fremont facility in California.
As Tesla moves forward with integrating robotics into its production ecosystem, the company faces the dual challenge of refining the technology while managing workforce relations amid broader concerns about automation’s impact on manufacturing jobs.