Tesla has started producing its humanoid robot Optimus at the Fremont, California, plant where it had been building electric vehicles.

In its third-quarter shareholder letter on Oct. 21 local time, Tesla said robots coming off the line are the first products it has manufactured at a production-quality level.

But the start of Optimus production did not make up for weak third-quarter results. Tesla’s total third-quarter revenue was $28.04 billion, slightly down from $28.09 billion in the third quarter of 2025 and about $200 million lower than $28.23 billion in the previous quarter.

Net profit was tallied at $787 million. That was down 43 percent from $1.37 billion a year earlier. Costs rose sharply as Tesla increased investment in Optimus, artificial intelligence and autonomous driving, and a decline in regulatory credit sales also weighed on profitability, TechCrunch reported.

The electric-vehicle unit, which accounted for most revenue, stagnated. Electric-vehicle revenue was $20 billion, unchanged from a year earlier. Third-quarter vehicle deliveries rose by about 6,000 from the previous quarter to 486,532, but were lower than a year earlier.

Revenue from solar and energy storage was $2.8 billion, down 16 percent from a year earlier. Tesla said customer refunds related to tariffs had an impact. By contrast, services revenue, including subscriptions such as full self-driving driver-assistance software, rose 33 percent from a year earlier to $4.6 billion.

But growth in services also did not offset higher spending on Optimus and AI projects. The “services and other” segment posted quarterly gross profit of $734 million, a record high, and Tesla said it stayed in the black thanks to that segment.