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Hyundai Hires Ex-Tesla Robotics Leader Milan Kovac, Names Him to Boston Dynamics Board

The move underscores Hyundai’s pivot from research demos to commercial rollout of Atlas using DeepMind’s physical AI by the decade’s end.

Overview

  • Hyundai Motor Group appointed Milan Kovac as a group adviser and non-executive director at Boston Dynamics to guide AI and robotics strategy across its portfolio.
  • Kovac spent roughly nine years at Tesla leading Optimus humanoid development and vision-centric autonomy before departing the company in June.
  • As an adviser, he will focus on applying advanced AI and robotics to manufacturing, logistics and service operations at Hyundai and Kia.
  • At CES 2026, Hyundai outlined plans to mass-produce the next-generation Atlas by 2028 with capacity up to 30,000 units and initial deployment at its Georgia Metaplant.
  • Hyundai highlighted a Google DeepMind partnership for training Atlas with real-world factory data and noted prior Nvidia collaboration, while separately installing Park Min-woo to lead 42dot and the Advanced Vehicle Platform division.