Milán Kovács, former Tesla vice president (in the photo) who had been regarded as one of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s closest confidants, is joining Hyundai Motor Group. Hyundai Motor Group announced on the 16th that Kovács, who was head of Tesla’s humanoid robot “Optimus” program, has been appointed as an outside director of Boston Dynamics, the group’s robotics specialist company.

Joining Tesla in 2016, Director Kovács is credited with significantly advancing Tesla’s core business areas of autonomous driving (Autopilot) and AI humanoid robot Optimus. Musk is reported to have tried to persuade Kovács to stay at Tesla until the end when he decided to resign. After the resignation was confirmed, Musk personally posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) saying, “Thank you for your contributions to Tesla over the years; it was an honor to work with you.”

Industry observers view this appointment as an attempt by Hyundai Motor Group to accelerate commercialization in areas such as autonomous driving and AI robots, where it is engaged in intense competition with players in the United States and China.

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