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Hyundai Names Ex‑Tesla Optimus Chief Milan Kovac as Adviser, Nominates Him to Boston Dynamics Board

The move signals Hyundai's shift from demos to scaled deployment through a 2028 Atlas production goal backed by new AI partnerships.

Overview

  • Hyundai confirmed Kovac’s appointment as a group adviser and said it will nominate him as an outside director at Boston Dynamics.
  • Kovac previously led Tesla’s Optimus humanoid program and held senior roles on Autopilot, bringing vision‑centric, end‑to‑end learning expertise.
  • He will advise on mid‑ to long‑term strategy and commercialization across the robotics portfolio that includes Spot, Stretch, Orbit and Atlas.
  • Following the CES reveal of the production Atlas, Hyundai targets a factory capable of up to 30,000 units annually by 2028, with industrial deployment planned at its U.S. facilities.
  • Hyundai is pairing hardware scale with physical AI through collaborations with Google DeepMind and earlier work with Nvidia, while also installing Park Min‑woo to lead AVP and 42dot.