Latest news with #Optimus'
Engadget
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Engadget
The head of Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot program leaves the company
Milan Kovac, who leads Tesla's Optimus humanoid robotics program, is leaving the automaker. In a post on X, Milan talked about how he joined Tesla as an engineer for the core Autopilot team in 2016 and how he started leading the Optimus group in 2022. He explained that he's leaving his position, because he's "been far away from home for too long and will need to spend more time with family abroad." Kovac stressed that it was the only reason he's leaving and that his support for Elon Musk and the Tesla team was "ironclad," perhaps insinuating that his decision had nothing to do with Musk's politics or recent fallout with the president. Tesla first announced that it was working on a humanoid robot in 2021, though it wasn't able to debut an actual prototype until a year a later in 2022. Musk said back then Optimus will be able to move at 5 mph and carry loads up to 45 pounds. He also said that he expects it to sell for $20,000 each when built at volume and claimed that the machines can give the company a $25 trillion market cap. Since then, Tesla has demonstrated Optimus' ability to handle an egg, cook meals, fold the laundry and throw the trash. The robot doesn't have a solid release date yet. Musk said back in April that the robot's production had been affected by China's export restrictions of rare earth magnets, so it's most likely not going to be anytime soon. Bloomberg , which reported Kovac's departure first, said he's leaving the company immediately. Ashok Elluswamy, who's leading the company's Autopilot group, is taking over his responsibilities. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Departure of Tesla's humanoid robot boss caps tough week for Elon Musk, amid bitter fallout with Trump
It's been a difficult week for Tesla. Not long after Elon Musk and President Donald Trump's very-public social media spat led Tesla shares to take their greatest single-day drop ever on Thursday—erasing $152 billion off its market cap—one of Tesla's top engineers confirmed on social media late Friday afternoon that he was leaving the company. Milan Kovac, who oversaw the 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,' confirming a Bloomberg report from earlier Friday afternoon that he was departing the company. 'I've been far away from home for too long, and will need to spend more time with family abroad,' he wrote in the post. 'I want to make it clear that this is the only reason, and has absolutely nothing to do with anything else. My support for [Elon Musk] and the team is ironclad—Tesla team forever.' Musk later replied to the post on X, thanking Kovac for his contributions to the company and saying it had been an 'honor' to work with him. The departure is a meaningful one for Tesla. Musk has repeatedly made public statements staking the future of the company on Tesla's self-driving software and its yet-to-be-released humanoid robot product. Musk has claimed that the Optimus robot, specifically, could generate 'north of $10 trillion in revenue' for Tesla and be its biggest product ever. It's largely his bullishness on these AI-powered initiatives that have contributed to Tesla's soaring stock price, which some analysts have argued is divorced from reality. Kovac's departure raises questions over the future direction of Optimus, and whether Tesla will successfully be able to develop, manufacture, and deliver the humanoid robots. Bloomberg reported that Ashok Elluswamy, who leads Tesla's Autopilot, would be taking over responsibilities for Optimus. Tesla had already been criticized for overselling the capabilities of Optimus after it failed to alert attendees of its 'We, Robot' launch event that humans were apparently remotely controlling the robots. (Kovac had confirmed in a social media post after the event that the robots were human-assisted 'to some extent') The departure of one of Tesla's top engineers adds to what has already been a troubling week for the electric vehicle maker. Tesla's shares tumbled this week as President Trump and Musk took to their respective social media platforms to hurl insults at one another. Trump accused Musk of being frustrated that EV credits for Tesla cars would go away as part of the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' while Musk accused the president of irresponsible spending with the proposed legislation. The conversation spiraled into insults and even discussions of cutting SpaceX contracts with NASA as the partnership between the two figures very publicly imploded. Adding to Tesla's woes, Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs issued a note to investors on Thursday forecasting weaker-than-expected sales of Tesla cars in the second quarter. Tesla shares recovered some ground on Friday as Musk said he was open to making amends with Trump, though the stock still finished the week down 14% from January (still, Tesla shares are trading nearly 66% higher than they were this time last year.) In his social media post, Kovac recounted how he had joined Tesla in 2016 as an engineer on its Autopilot team and that he had transitioned to lead the Optimus group in early 2022 when Tesla had 'nothing but a couple Kuka arms arranged upside-down,' referring to the industrial robotic arms that are often used in automated factory systems. Tesla did not respond to an immediate request for comment on Kovac's departure. This story was originally featured on
New York Post
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- New York Post
Tesla sales plunge 49% in Europe as Elon Musk's firm faces brand crisis, China rival
Tesla's sales in Europe plunged in April as the electric car maker faced backlash over Elon Musk's political work and rising competition from China-based rival BYD. Tesla sold just 7,261 cars in the region last month – down from 14,228 units sold in the same month one year ago, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. The April sales figures marked the fourth straight month of declines for Tesla in Europe. Sales have fallen by nearly 39% since the start of the year. 3 Elon Musk has vowed to spend more time at Tesla. REUTERS The company's overall market share in Europe fell to 0.7% in April, down from 1.3% year-over-year. Sales plunged despite a 34.1% jump in annual sales for battery-powered electric vehicles in April. Despite the poor sales data, Tesla shares were trading nearly 5% higher on Tuesday. The stock popped days after Musk reiterated in an X post that he was 'back to spending 24/7 at work' and as President Trump said he would postpone planned 50% tariffs on the European Union. After a dismal quarterly report last month in which Tesla's net income fell 71%, Musk told analysts that his 'time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly' as he spends 'far more of my time at Tesla.' Musk has also said he expects to lead Tesla for at least the next five years. Musk-led Tesla had faced a wave of protests and vandalism incidents at dealerships in response to the billionaire's controversial work with President Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has since said he is stepping back from DOGE. 3 Elon Musk sparked backlash over his work with President Trump and DOGE. David Mirzoeff / Led By Donkeys / SWNS Tesla's slump also coincides with an ongoing surge in sales for Chinese EV maker BYD, which topped Musk's firm in European sales for the first time in April, according to separate data compiled by research firm Jato Dynamics. BYD's sales jumped 169% in Europe year-over-year. BYD also leapfrogged Tesla this year while surpassing $100 billion in overall sales and doubled its profits to $1.3 billion in the first quarter. The Chinese firm sells its cheapest available cars for less than $10,000 and offers a mix of plug-in hybrids and battery-powered EVs. 3 Tesla has faced a wave of protests. Getty Images Tesla, meanwhile, typically sells at a higher price point and only offers battery-powered EVs. Analysts have pointed to other concerns at Tesla, including the company's aging car lineup. Meanwhile, Musk has touted Tesla's plans to roll out self-driving taxis and 'Optimus' humanoid robots as key to the company's long-term strategy.
Mint
27-05-2025
- Science
- Mint
Elon Musk claims Starship can reach Mars in six months — Here's how
Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of rocket company SpaceX, has claimed that his Starships can travel to Mars within six months, instead of the projected 10 years. How? By travelling when the planets align, 'every 26 months' (or 2.2 years), which would shorten the physical distance between the Earth and Mars, and theoritically means that we could reach the red planet faster. Notably, SpaceX is gearing up for its next space mission later today, and Elon Musk's ambitious Mars projects has got a boost, with date set for 2026. 'Starship can reach Mars in 6 months every 26 months when the planets align (sic),' he wrote. The world's richest man made the comment while engaging with a post on X about how long it would take for commercial airplanes to reach each planetary body in our solar system, based on current speeds and their distance from Earth. What Elon Musk is referring to is what scientists term as 'opposition'. This is when during their revolutions around the Sun, Earth and Mars catch up, and our home planet is positioned in between the central star and the red planet. According to NASA, such oppositions only happen every 26 months or so, with Mars getting closest to Earth at intervals of 15-17 years. At present, the distance between Earth and Mars is 249.03 million km. During opposition this can lower to as much as 70.3 million km (seen at the 2005 opposition event), according to NASA. Notably, on May 15, Elon Musk announced that SpaceX's Starship rocket will depart for Mars by 2026-end with Tesla's humanoid robot 'Optimus' on board. This will be a test before SpaceX move on to 'human landings' by 2029-2031, he added. 'Starship departs for Mars at the end of next year, carrying Optimus. If those landings go well, then human landings may start as soon as 2029, although 2031 is more likely,' said billionaire CEO Elon Musk. A test for this rocket, is set for later today, when a launch window opens at 6:30 pm (2330 GMT) from the company's Starbase facility near a southern Texas village that recently voted to become a city, also called Starbase, according to an AFP report. Notably, the last two tests ended with the upper stages erupting into flames that rained debris over Caribbean islands and disrupted flights. According to the Wall Street Journal, SpaceX is shifting personnel and resources to the Starship program in a push to have the vehicle ready for a Mars mission as soon as next year.
India Today
14-05-2025
- India Today
Tesla Optimus robot shows impressive dance moves in new video
Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus is back in the limelight, and this time, it's not for factory tasks or tech upgrades — it's for dancing. A short video shared by Elon Musk on the social media platform X shows the robot performing fluid and expressive dance moves, prompting many viewers to wonder if what they saw was even video quickly gained traction, with millions of views and widespread engagement. While some social media users questioned whether the clip was generated using artificial intelligence, Musk clarified that the footage was genuine and happening in real own chatbot, Grok, also responded to one user's query, stating the clip likely showed the actual Optimus robot. The AI cited previous demonstrations, including Tesla's 'We, Robot' event in October 2024 and updates from April 2025, as proof that the robot had already shown off basic tasks like walking and coordination. Social media users were both amused and amazed. One user joked about turning Optimus into a wall painter, saying Tesla would sell millions if that were the case. Another praised the robot's capabilities, suggesting that such innovations could reduce work-related physical injuries once deployed at originally revealed its plans for a humanoid robot during its AI Day in 2021, though at that time it was more of a concept — quite literally, with a person dressed in a robot costume dancing on stage. In 2022, Tesla brought early prototypes to life, showcasing limited but functioning mobility. Since then, the robot has gradually developed into a more advanced machine capable of carrying out simple real-world journey hasn't been without its challenges. Just last month, Elon Musk revealed that Chinese export regulations around rare earth magnets had affected Optimus' development timeline. Chinese authorities reportedly wanted assurances that the materials wouldn't be used for military applications. Musk stressed that the magnets were strictly for the robot's new video suggests that Tesla is not only making technical progress but also building public interest in Optimus through relatable moments. Whether the robot will be painting walls, working in warehouses or helping at home, the latest glimpse adds to the growing curiosity about its future role in society.
