Head of Tesla's Praised Humanoid Robot, Called "The Biggest Product" by Musk, Suddenly Resigns

Tesla Robotics Vice President Milan Kovac Resigns
Joined Tesla in 2016... Promoted to Vice President Last Year
"Resigned to Spend More Time with Family"

The head of development for Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus is leaving the company.

According to Bloomberg and other sources on June 7 (local time), Milan Kovac, Tesla's Vice President of Robotics, announced his resignation the previous day in a post on the social networking service X (formerly Twitter). He joined Tesla in 2016 and has been with the company for nine years.

In his post on X, Kovac said, "I sincerely want to thank Musk for believing in me and teaching me for more than nine years," adding, "You taught me many of the fundamental principles of engineering. I will be forever grateful, and I am confident Tesla will prevail."

The humanoid robot "Optimus" by Tesla. Photo by Yonhap News

He went on to explain the reason for his resignation, stating, "I have been away from home for too long and need to spend more time with my family." He emphasized, "This is the only reason I decided to resign, and I want to make it clear that it is not related to any other reason." He added, "I believe they (Musk and the team) will take Optimus to the next level, and nothing will change just because I am leaving."

Kovac was appointed as the head of Optimus and autonomous driving engineering in 2022, and was promoted to Vice President last September, making him a key figure in Tesla's artificial intelligence (AI) development. Ashok Elluswamy, the current head of autonomous driving, is set to succeed him. Musk also expressed his gratitude for Kovac's more than nine years of dedication.

Tesla is developing the humanoid robot Optimus, which resembles a human, and is considered to be a leader in this field. Last month, Musk released a video showing Optimus opening a trash can lid to throw away a garbage bag, sweeping the floor with a broom, vacuuming, and stirring a pot on a gas stove with a spatula.

Musk has previously stated that Optimus could become "the biggest product of all our products." He also said that thousands of Optimus robots will be operational by the end of this year, and that Tesla could produce millions of Optimus units annually by 2030.

However, Brett Winton, Chief Futurist at ARK Investment Management, a major investor in Tesla, explained that "Tesla is not currently including Optimus in its five-year revenue plan." Regarding Vice President Kovac's resignation, he also commented, "Musk is not an easy boss to work for. He drives people very hard."