The head of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot program leaves the company

Milan Kovac, which leads Tesla‘s Optimus Humanoid Robotics Program, leaves the automaker. In a PublishMilan spoke of the way he joined Tesla As an engineer for the basic team of the automatic pilot in 2016 and how he started directing the Optimus group in 2022. He explained that he was leaving his position, because he has been “far from his home for too long and will have to spend more time with his family abroad”. Kovac stressed that it was the only reason he leaves and that his support for Elon Musk and the Tesla The team was “at iron”, perhaps insinuating that their decision had nothing to do with Musk’s policy or recent fallout with the president.

Tesla First of all announcement that he operated on a humanoid robot in 2021, although he could not beginning A real prototype up to a year later in 2022. Musk said that Optimus could move to 5 MPH and transport loads up to 45 pounds. He also said he expects him to sell $ 20,000 each when built in volume and said the machines could give the company a 25 billions of stock market dollars. Since then, Tesla has demonstrated Optimus capacity at manipulateCooking meals, folding the laundry and throwing the trash. The robot does not yet have a solid release date. Musk said in April that the robot production had been affected According to China export restrictions on rare earth magnets, it will therefore probably not be any soon.

BloombergWho reported Kovac’s departure first, said he was immediately leaving the business. Ashok Elluswamy, who runs the company’s automatic group, takes charge of its responsibilities.

If you buy something via a link in this article, we can win a commission.