If you’ve been following Tesla’s advancements in robotics, you’ll know about Milan Kovac — the man leading the Optimus humanoid robot programme. But now, after nearly 10 years with the company, Kovac has announced his decision to leave.
In a heartfelt message posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, June 7, Kovac shared that stepping away from Tesla was the “most difficult decision” he’s ever made. “I’ve been far away from home for too long and will need to spend more time with family abroad,” he wrote. Kovac clarified that this was the only reason for his departure, and he still strongly supports both Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk. “My support for Elon and Tesla is ironclad,” he added.
Over the past 9+ years, I’ve had the immense privilege to work with some of the most brilliant minds in AI & engineering. I’ve built friendships that will last a lifetime.
— Milan Kovac (@_milankovac_) June 6, 2025
This week, I’ve had to make the most difficult decision of my life and will be moving out of my position.… pic.twitter.com/ENwYRDQkMO
One of Tesla’s longest-serving engineers
Kovac’s time at Tesla began nearly a decade ago. For much of his career, he was a leading engineer on Tesla’s Autopilot team, playing a big role in developing the self-driving technology. In 2022, he was asked to help lead the Optimus robot project, and by late 2024, he had officially become the vice president in charge.
Optimus is Tesla’s ambitious humanoid robot, which Elon Musk hopes will become a major part of the company’s future. Musk recently said that Tesla plans to have “thousands” of these robots working in its factories by the end of this year. He even went so far as to say that Optimus could become the fastest-scaling product in history, predicting millions of units produced each year as soon as possible.
Kovac was responsible for the development of Optimus and the engineering teams that built the shared software systems used by Optimus and Tesla’s Autopilot system. On LinkedIn, he once wrote: “I’m driving the Optimus programme and all its engineering teams. Separately, I’m also driving the engineering teams responsible for all the software foundations and infrastructure common between Optimus and Autopilot.”
New leadership for the Optimus programme
With Kovac stepping down, Ashok Elluswamy — Tesla’s vice president of AI software — will now take over the Optimus project. According to Bloomberg, Elluswamy is already in charge of Tesla’s AI software division and has been a key player in developing Autopilot and Full Self-Driving features.
Tesla has yet to comment publicly on the change in leadership, but Kovac’s departure will no doubt raise questions about the future pace and direction of the Optimus project.
Still, with Musk’s ambitious targets and the project being passed to another experienced leader, the momentum behind Tesla’s robot programme is unlikely to slow down anytime soon.
