Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 6, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleMilan Kovac, head of Tesla's Optimus program, resigns for family reasons. Ashok Elluswamy will succeed him as Tesla plans to ramp up robot production.
(Reuters) -Milan Kovac, the head of Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot program, announced his plans to step down in a post on X on Friday.
Kovac became the lead of the program in 2022 when he was appointed director of Optimus and Autopilot Engineering, and he took on the role of vice president in September last year.
"I've been far away from home for too long, and will need to spend more time with family abroad. I want to make it clear that this is the only reason," Kovac said in his social media post.
Bloomberg News, which initially reported the development, said in its report that Kovac would leave his position immediately, and Ashok Elluswamy, who currently leads Tesla's autopilot teams, will take on his role.
Tesla and Elluswamy did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Musk has earlier said he expected Tesla to make thousands of Optimus robots this year. He said in April that China's export restrictions on rare-earth magnets had affected production of the humanoid robots.
Tesla has shifted focus to launching the robots and its robotaxi service, with much of the company's valuation hanging on that bet.
"The only things that matter in the long term are autonomy and Optimus," Musk told CNBC in May.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Pooja Desai and Shounak Dasgupta)
Milan Kovac is the head of Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot program, appointed as director in 2022.
Kovac stated he is leaving to spend more time with his family abroad, emphasizing that this is the only reason for his departure.
Ashok Elluswamy, who currently leads Tesla's autopilot teams, will take over Kovac's responsibilities immediately.
Elon Musk mentioned that China's export restrictions on rare-earth magnets have affected the production of the humanoid robots.
Tesla is shifting its focus towards launching the Optimus robots and its robotaxi service, which are crucial for the company's valuation.
Explore more articles in the Finance category
