CNBC | Evelyn Milan Kovac, Tesla's vice president in charge of Optimus humanoid robotics, announced on Friday that he's leaving the company. Kovac started at Tesla in 2016 and reported to CEO Elon Musk, who thanked him for his contributions in a post on X. In its first-quarter investor deck, Tesla said it was on target for "builds of Optimus on our Fremont pilot production line in 2025, with wider deployment of bots doing useful work across our factories." Tesla's vice president of Optimus robotics, Milan Kovac, said on Friday that he's leaving the company. In a post on X, Kovac thanked Tesla CEO Elon Musk and reminisced about his tenure, which began in 2016. Watch NBC 4 free wherever you are WATCH HERE "I want to thank @elonmusk from the bottom of my heart for his trust and teachings over the decade we've worked together," Kovac wrote. "Elon, you've taught me to discern signal from noise, hardcore resilience, and many fundamental principles of engineering. I am forever grateful. Tesla will win, I guarantee you that." Tesla is developing Optimus with the aim of someday selling it as a bipedal, intelligent robot capable of everything from factory work to babysitting. Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox with NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter. SIGN UP In a first-quarter shareholder deck, Tesla said it was on target for "builds of Optimus on our Fremont pilot production line in 2025, with wider deployment of bots doing useful work across our factories." During Tesla's 2024 annual shareholder meeting, Musk characterized himself as "pathologically optimistic," then claimed the humanoid robots would lift the company's market cap to $25 trillion at an unspecified future date. Money Report