Tesla’s Humanoid Robot Boss Exits

It’s been a difficult week for Tesla.

Kovac’s exit raises fresh questions about the future of the Optimus project, and whether Tesla will be able to develop, manufacture, and deliver the robots at scale. I Photo: Tesla

Not long after Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s very public social media spat caused Tesla shares to suffer their biggest single-day drop ever—erasing $152 billion from its market cap—one of the company’s top engineers announced his departure, Jessica Mathews reported for Fortune Tech.

Milan Kovac, who led development of Tesla’s “Optimus” humanoid robot, posted on X that he had made “the most difficult decision of my life” and would be “moving out of my position.” His departure is significant.

Musk has claimed that the Optimus robot could eventually generate “north of $10 trillion in revenue” for Tesla, positioning it as the company’s most important product.

Much of the bullish sentiment driving Tesla’s stock price has stemmed from Musk’s ambitious AI-powered initiatives—some of which analysts argue are out of step with reality.

Kovac’s exit raises fresh questions about the future of the Optimus project, and whether Tesla will be able to develop, manufacture, and deliver the robots at scale.

The company has already faced criticism for overstating Optimus’s capabilities, particularly after it failed to disclose that the robots at its launch event were being remotely controlled by humans.

Goldman Sachs recently issued a note to investors forecasting weaker-than-expected Tesla vehicle sales for the second quarter.