The head of Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot programme has abruptly left the company, Bloomberg reported, creating uncertainty around the highly touted AI-powered machines.
Milan Kovac, the head of engineering for Optimus, told colleagues on Friday that he was departing effective immediately, the report said, citing an unidentified source.
Ashok Elluswamy, the head of Tesla’s Autopilot teams, is to take over responsibility for Optimus, the report said.
Robot plans
Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tesla has pushed Optimus and its electric cars’ AI-based self-driving features into the spotlight as artificial intelligence has become a tech industry focus over the past two years, and much of the company’s valuation is seen as hinging on the offerings, which have not yet been released.
In an interview in May Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said autonomous driving and Optimus robots were “the only things that matter in the long term”.
At an event last October to reveal its planned Cybercab autonomous vehicle, Tesla’s Optimus robots were seen mixing drinks, walking around the event and talking to guests.
The robots were all operated by humans, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas said in a report following the event, something echoed by various news outlets.
Alex Proyas, the Australian filmmaker who directed the 2004 film I, Robot, was amongst those who called out surprising similarities between the designs in his film and those of AI-powered products shown at the Tesla event.
Tesla has said it expects to make large numbers of Optimus robots this year and that they would eventually be sold at retail to consumers, but no launch plans have been announced.
Automated taxis
The firm said in April that China’s export controls on rare-earth magnets had affected production of the robots.
Tesla is expected to launch a Robotaxi-branded autonomous taxi service in Austin, Texas this month, but the service will be limited to around 10 vehicles, will be available by invitation only and the cars will have teleoperators standing by, Morgan Stanley’s Jonas said in a May research note.
Tesla’s shares are down about 22 percent this year amidst falling car sales and a backlash against Musk’s support for extreme right-wing politics.
