Elon Musk is busy laying off employees, while Mark Zuckerberg continues to hire.
Isn't it? Optimus AI team leader Ashish Kumar has decided to leave Tesla to join Meta as a research scientist.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/7df6e12a-31b4-4427-9d10-6564b882d46b.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/7df6e12a-31b4-4427-9d10-6564b882d46b.png"/>
As for his farewell remarks, he stated:
<blockquote>
Leading the Optimus AI team has been an exciting and unforgettable experience.
We are fully advancing scalable methods—replacing traditional tech stacks with reinforcement learning and enhancing the agility of robots through video learning.
</blockquote>
He further emphasized that artificial intelligence is the key factor in unlocking humanoid robots.
Meanwhile, Zuckerberg's image of spending money to hire has deeply ingrained in people's minds, prompting netizens to sharply comment, is there 1 billion dollars?
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/e936e49a-09de-4b8f-a264-1972e6963b81.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/e936e49a-09de-4b8f-a264-1972e6963b81.png"/>
<h2>Optimus Team Leaders Leaving One After Another</h2>
So who exactly is this Optimus AI team leader?
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/4ead3387-306f-4887-b7cd-894e56bfdecf.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/4ead3387-306f-4887-b7cd-894e56bfdecf.png"/>
Ashish Kumar, a PhD from UC Berkeley, was mentored by Professor Jitendra Malik, who is revered by Fei-Fei Li as the &#34;academic grandfather,&#34; and is famous for his research in the field of computer vision.
In 2015, Ashish graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, and then worked as a researcher for two years at Microsoft's lab in India, focusing on resource-efficient machine learning algorithms.
In 2017, Ashish returned to academia, starting his PhD at UC Berkeley, and in July 2023, he joined Tesla as an ML scientist, becoming the AI leader for Optimus more than a year later.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/cdaf67de-2f98-421b-9542-8943b5b3708f.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/cdaf67de-2f98-421b-9542-8943b5b3708f.png"/>
In addition, Ashish is not the only one leaving Optimus; in June of this year, Optimus project leader Milan Kovac announced his departure.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/5669ecbf-d59d-4b7e-8e32-06759b3f0b14.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/5669ecbf-d59d-4b7e-8e32-06759b3f0b14.png"/>
Milan Kovac graduated with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 2008 and has worked as a game developer
His first job was at the Belgian motion recognition company SoftKinetic, mainly responsible for porting work across different platforms, and later he developed visual components for Intel.
Four years later, the company was acquired by Sony, and Kovac moved through several companies before officially joining Tesla in April 2016 as an engineer on the Autopilot core team, responsible for the underlying process management of Autopilot. He later served as the autonomous driving software engineering manager, senior engineering manager, and Autopilot software engineering director.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/2b25baae-8177-4b5c-b978-f328091f2e75.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/2b25baae-8177-4b5c-b978-f328091f2e75.png"/>
In 2022, Kovac was promoted to head of the Optimus project. Under his leadership, Tesla's humanoid robot evolved from a concept into a fully functional second-generation bipedal robot capable of working autonomously in Tesla factories.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/92728396-491e-47ba-ad14-2d7bd3720927.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/92728396-491e-47ba-ad14-2d7bd3720927.png"/>
As a nine-year veteran of Tesla, Kovac started with autonomous driving and then, as a founding member, built Optimus from the ground up. In this regard, Musk specifically thanked him for his outstanding contributions over the past decade in a reply to his tweet.
<img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/8e2270ef-1822-4368-bbdb-24bb6bd13c76.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/8e2270ef-1822-4368-bbdb-24bb6bd13c76.png"/>
(Why wasn't there any thanks for this project leader's departure? Could it be...)
Regarding the robot, after Tesla released &#34;Master Plan 4,&#34; Musk revealed:
<blockquote>
80% of Tesla's future value will come from Optimus.
</blockquote>
But with this project leader frequently leaving, can Musk's robotic ambitions proceed smoothly?
<h2>One More Thing</h2>
Musk faces external competition from Zuckerberg and internal conflicts with close advisors and executives.
According to the Wall Street Journal, several executives at xAI have left after conflicts with Musk's two closest advisors due to concerns about the company's management and financial situation.
<h6><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/fa95f31f-f162-480e-afcd-069fab9058df.png?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" alt="" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://wpimg-wscn.awtmt.com/fa95f31f-f162-480e-afcd-069fab9058df.png"/>△ Jared Birchall and John Herin</h6>
These two advisors are Jared Birchall and John Herin, who are primarily responsible for overseeing the daily operations of xAI, while Musk, as CEO, is responsible for making final decisions.
Insiders say that some xAI executives internally opposed Birchall and Herin's attempts to manage the company on Musk's behalf, believing they lacked a formal chain of command
So, does Musk's AI journey need to first adjust its organizational structure next?
Article author: Quantum Bit, source: Quantum Bit, original title: &#34;Zuckerberg has poached Musk's Robot No. 1&#34;
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Elon Musk's Optimus AI team leader Ashish Kumar has left Tesla to join Meta as a research scientist. Upon his departure, he stated that leading the Optimus AI team was an incredible experience and emphasized that artificial intelligence is the key factor in unlocking humanoid robots. Mark Zuckerberg's image of poaching talent has deeply resonated, with netizens questioning whether he has $1 billion. Kumar has a rich background in the CV field, having previously worked at Microsoft and UC Berkeley. Meanwhile, the head of the Optimus project, Milan Kovac, also announced his departure in June of this year

- Ashish Kumar, head of the Optimus AI team at Tesla, has left to join Meta as a research scientist, emphasizing the importance of AI in humanoid robotics.  
- His departure follows that of Milan Kovac, who led the Optimus project and played a crucial role in developing Tesla's bipedal robot.  
- Amidst these exits, concerns arise regarding the stability of Tesla's AI ambitions, especially with internal conflicts reported at xAI.