Ashok Elluswamy, an engineer from India who currently leads Tesla’s Autopilot team, has now been given a new role — he will head the development of Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus.
This change comes after Milan Kovac, who had been leading the Optimus project since 2022, decided to step down. He said he wants to spend more time with his family living abroad. Kovac shared on social media, “I’ve been far away from home for too long. This is the only reason for my decision.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also highlighted Ashok’s contributions by resharing a tweet from 2015, where he first talked about hiring for Tesla’s Autopilot software team. That tweet has gone viral again as Ashok takes on this important new responsibility.
What is Tesla’s Optimus Robot?
The Optimus robot is a human-like machine that Tesla is developing. Musk hopes to build thousands of these robots soon. However, production has faced some delays due to China’s restrictions on certain materials needed for building the robots.
Despite the challenges, Musk believes that Tesla’s future depends on two things — self-driving technology (autonomy) and the success of Optimus. He told CNBC in May, “The only things that matter in the long term are autonomy and Optimus.”
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Who is Ashok Elluswamy?
Ashok Elluswamy lives in San Francisco and has been working as the Director of Tesla’s Autopilot Software since 2019. He has a Master’s degree in Robotic Systems from Carnegie Mellon University in the USA and a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication from the College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai, India.
He joined Tesla in 2014 as the first engineer in their AI/Autopilot team. Before that, he worked at WABCO Vehicle Control Systems and did a research internship with Volkswagen, where he worked on self-driving car projects.
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Ashok is an expert in robotics, computer vision, and artificial intelligence — skills that are key for building both Tesla’s Autopilot and the Optimus robot.
