A Tesla software engineer was attacked by a robot at Tesla's a person factory in Austin when a third robot that had not been disabled pinned him and sank its metal claws into his back and arm, causing lacerations.
- Date of incident
- 2021-12-31
- Location
- Austin, Texas, USA
- Sources
- 13
Established by press reporting. No regulator or court document is linked to this case yet.
How the event developed
- 2023-12-26Report
A Tesla software engineer was attacked by a robot at Tesla's a person factory in Austin when a third robot that had not been disabled pinned him and sank its metal claws into his back and arm, causing lacerations.
nypost.com - 2023-12-26Follow-up
A robot at Tesla's Texas factory attacked an engineer in 2021, pinning him and causing serious injuries to his back and arm during a maintenance operation in which the robot was inadvertently left active.
oecd.ai - 2023-12-27Follow-up
A Tesla engineer programming software for disabled car-making robots at Giga Texas was picked up by one of the robots, which grabbed him by the back and arm and cut his hand before he fell down a scrap aluminum chute.
carscoops.com - 2023-12-27Follow-up
A Tesla engineer was pinned against a wall by a robot's claws at Tesla's a person factory in 2021, sustaining lacerations to his back and arm and falling into a scrap metal chute while escaping.
news.sky.com - 2023-12-27Follow-up
An engineer at Tesla's a person factory was pinned and clawed by a malfunctioning robot while disabling programming for nearby robots, sustaining a laceration to his hand and leaving blood on the factory floor.
unilad.com - 2023-12-28Follow-up
A Kuka robot arm at Tesla's a person factory injured an engineer in 2021, an incident that was reported by the a person in December 2023 with misleading imagery suggesting Tesla's Optimus robot was responsible.
teslarati.com - 2023-12-28Follow-up
Robot arm injured an engineer at a Tesla plant, leaving a trail of blood
wsoctv.com - 2023-12-28Follow-up
A Tesla robot designed to grasp and move aluminium vehicle parts attacked an engineer at the a person factory in Austin, sinking its claws into the worker's back and arm and leaving an open wound on his left hand, as documented in a 2021 injury report.
geo.tv - 2023-12-28Follow-up
A Tesla robot violently malfunctioned at the company's Texas factory, attacking an engineer and leaving a trail of blood, forcing workers to hit an emergency shutdown button.
dailymail.com - 2023-12-28Follow-up
A Kuka robot arm at Tesla's a person factory pinned an engineer against a surface with its claws, causing bleeding from the engineer's back and arm, after the engineer began working on three robots while one remained powered on.
indiatoday.in - 2023-12-28Follow-up
A KUKA robotic arm at Tesla's a person factory pinned an engineer against a wall with its claw, drawing blood from his back and arm, and he fell down a scrap metal chute after breaking free.
greenmatters.com - 2023-12-28Follow-up
a person publicly criticizes media coverage of a reported Tesla robot injury incident
newsnationnow.com - 2025-09-26Lawsuit
A Tesla factory worker, a person, was seriously injured in 2023 when a robot arm swung without warning and struck him while he was dismantling the machine, resulting in over $1 million in medical costs and a $51 million lawsuit against Tesla.
finance.yahoo.com
Every claim above traces to one of these
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- nypost.comA Tesla software engineer was attacked by a robot at Tesla's a person factory in Austin when a third robot that had not been disabled pinned him and sank its metal claws into his back and arm, causing lacerations.2023-12-26copy 2026-09-03tier 2
- oecd.aiA robot at Tesla's Texas factory attacked an engineer in 2021, pinning him and causing serious injuries to his back and arm during a maintenance operation in which the robot was inadvertently left active.2023-12-26copy 2026-09-09tier 2
- carscoops.comA Tesla engineer programming software for disabled car-making robots at Giga Texas was picked up by one of the robots, which grabbed him by the back and arm and cut his hand before he fell down a scrap aluminum chute.2023-12-27copy 2026-09-03tier 2
- news.sky.comA Tesla engineer was pinned against a wall by a robot's claws at Tesla's a person factory in 2021, sustaining lacerations to his back and arm and falling into a scrap metal chute while escaping.2023-12-27copy 2026-09-02tier 2
- unilad.comAn engineer at Tesla's a person factory was pinned and clawed by a malfunctioning robot while disabling programming for nearby robots, sustaining a laceration to his hand and leaving blood on the factory floor.2023-12-27copy 2026-09-02tier 2
- teslarati.comA Kuka robot arm at Tesla's a person factory injured an engineer in 2021, an incident that was reported by the a person in December 2023 with misleading imagery suggesting Tesla's Optimus robot was responsible.2023-12-28copy 2026-09-03tier 2
- wsoctv.comRobot arm injured an engineer at a Tesla plant, leaving a trail of blood2023-12-28copy 2026-09-08tier 2
- geo.tvA Tesla robot designed to grasp and move aluminium vehicle parts attacked an engineer at the a person factory in Austin, sinking its claws into the worker's back and arm and leaving an open wound on his left hand, as documented in a 2021 injury report.2023-12-28copy 2026-09-03tier 2
- dailymail.comA Tesla robot violently malfunctioned at the company's Texas factory, attacking an engineer and leaving a trail of blood, forcing workers to hit an emergency shutdown button.2023-12-28copy 2026-09-03tier 2
- indiatoday.inA Kuka robot arm at Tesla's a person factory pinned an engineer against a surface with its claws, causing bleeding from the engineer's back and arm, after the engineer began working on three robots while one remained powered on.2023-12-28copy 2026-09-05tier 2
- greenmatters.comA KUKA robotic arm at Tesla's a person factory pinned an engineer against a wall with its claw, drawing blood from his back and arm, and he fell down a scrap metal chute after breaking free.2023-12-28copy 2026-09-04tier 2
- newsnationnow.coma person publicly criticizes media coverage of a reported Tesla robot injury incident2023-12-28copy 2026-09-03tier 2
- finance.yahoo.comA Tesla factory worker, a person, was seriously injured in 2023 when a robot arm swung without warning and struck him while he was dismantling the machine, resulting in over $1 million in medical costs and a $51 million lawsuit against Tesla.2025-09-26copy 2026-09-05tier 2
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