Hyundai Motor to Appoint Former Tesla Humanoid Robot Chief Milan Kovac as Robotics Adviser

South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group announced on Friday it intends to appoint Milan Kovac, the former head of Tesla's humanoid robot programme, as an adviser as it seeks to strengthen its competitiveness in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). The automotive group also intends to nominate Kovac as an outside director of the firm's US subsidiary Boston Dynamics, Reuters has reported.

Kovac, who announced plans to leave Tesla last June, became the lead of Tesla's Optimus humanoid programme in 2022 when he was appointed director of Optimus and Autopilot Engineering.

"Hyundai Motor Group is strengthening its technology leadership and driving a paradigm shift in the industry by appointing a global expert as an advisor, leveraging the convergence of AI and robotics," Hyundai said in a statement.

Hyundai added that Kovac will contribute to strategic discussions on mid- to long-term strategy and commercialisation across the company's portfolio of robotics platforms, including Spot, Stretch, Orbit and Atlas.

Hyundai Motor last week unveiled the production version of the Atlas humanoid robot at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and stated it aims to build a factory capable of manufacturing 30,000 robot units annually by 2028.

The company expects humanoid robots to become the largest segment of the physical artificial intelligence market, which refers to AI systems embedded in hardware that collect real-world data and make autonomous decisions, spanning areas such as robotics, smart factories and autonomous driving.

Hyundai on Tuesday also appointed former Tesla and Nvidia engineer Park Min-woo as head of its advanced vehicle platform division and CEO of 42dot to strengthen competitiveness in software-defined vehicles and autonomous driving capabilities.

Shares of Hyundai Motor rose more than 34 per cent since the company unveiled the production version of its humanoid robot last week at CES, compared with a 7 per cent rise in the benchmark KOSPI.