Milan Kovac, the head of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot program, is departing the company. Bloomberg News broke this story on June 6, 2025. Kovac has spent almost ten years with Tesla. Second, he was deeply involved in giving shape to the company’s moonshot plans to develop a humanoid robot.
Kovac joined Tesla almost ten years ago and initially made significant contributions as a top engineer in the Autopilot team. His knowledge and experience led to him landing a pivotal leadership role in 2022. He assumed operational control of the Optimus program, guiding program engineering teams to develop the robot’s design and capabilities. By late 2024, Kovac had climbed the ranks to become their vice president. He deepened his leadership in one of Tesla’s most transformative initiatives.
In a now-deleted LinkedIn profile, Kovac described his day-to-day duties overseeing the Optimus program and its engineering teams. His departure foreshadows a major shift for the future of Tesla. This shift is especially important as the company seeks to be the Apple of the robotics industry.
Ashok Elluswamy, currently vice president of Tesla’s AI software division. He will lead the Optimus project following the departure of Kovac. Elluswamy’s experience in artificial intelligence and software development positions him well to guide the project forward during this critical phase.
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, has made some unrealistic promises about the potential of the Optimus program. He told listeners that the silicon company hopes to quickly scale up production. They’re aiming to build millions of Optimus units per year starting as soon as possible. Efficient engineering teams Musk prioritized efficient engineering teams. From an engineering perspective, he is personally, deeply hands-on in the development of the foundational software infrastructure that underlies both Optimus’ software stack and Autopilot.
“And we expect to scale Optimus up faster than any product, I think, in history, to get to millions of units per year as soon as possible.” – Elon Musk
Kovac’s departure marks the first major leadership change for the Optimus program. This move comes during a time when Tesla is making a major push to double down on their robotics automation. As the company continues to innovate and expand its product offerings, the transition in management may bring new strategies and directions for the ambitious humanoid robot initiative.