Tesla plans to use selected employees at its Grünheide vehicle plant in Germany to help train its Optimus humanoid robot by recording human movement patterns during assembly work. According to Handelsblatt, the initiative forms part of Tesla’s broader robotics strategy, which also includes expanding component development and manufacturing activities at its site in Reutlingen.
Employee Movements to Train Optimus
According to Handelsblatt, citing an internal Tesla communication, selected employees at the Gigafactory in Grünheide will wear backpack-mounted cameras while performing assembly tasks.
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The cameras will record movements such as gripping tools, handling components and carrying out individual work processes. Tesla intends to use the data to train Optimus to perform similar tasks autonomously.
The company already follows a comparable approach in the United States, where Data Collection Operators perform predefined movement sequences to support development of the humanoid robot.
Works Council Consultation Unclear
Handelsblatt reported that it remains unclear under what conditions employees will participate in the data collection programme.
The newspaper also said the initiative has not yet been discussed with the plant’s works council, despite German labour laws requiring co-determination for certain technical systems capable of monitoring employee behaviour or performance.
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Reutlingen Expands Robotics Operations
While Grünheide is expected to provide operational data for robot training, Tesla is expanding its robotics engineering activities at its Reutlingen facility.
The company is recruiting specialists to develop components including sensors, actuators and gearboxes, while also designing production equipment and manufacturing processes for large-scale robot production.
Tesla acquired a significant portion of the Reutlingen site from the insolvent machinery manufacturer Manz in 2025.
According to the company’s plans, Grünheide and Reutlingen are expected to play complementary roles, with the former supporting data collection for Optimus training and the latter focusing on manufacturing technologies for the humanoid robot.
Long-Term Production Plans
Optimus is currently produced on a pilot production line in Fremont, California, although Tesla has not disclosed production volumes.
The company has previously outlined ambitions to eventually operate a factory capable of producing up to one million humanoid robots annually.
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At the same time, Tesla continues expanding operations at its Grünheide plant. The company is increasing hiring to support higher Model Y production, while battery cell manufacturing is scheduled to begin in 2027.
Plant manager André Thierig has previously said that additional automation could eventually reduce the number of workers needed to produce the same number of vehicles. However, Tesla has not announced when Optimus could be deployed more broadly in vehicle production, with the current initiative focused on collecting movement data from selected employees.