Ashok Elluswamy

At the 2026 ScaledML Conference, Tesla’s VP of AI Software detailed the company’s end-to-end autonomy strategy, revealing how driverless taxis in Austin and humanoid robots in Fremont share a single generative "world simulator."

In a new technical deep-dive, Tesla's VP of AI and Optimus lead Ashok Elluswamy details the end-to-end neural network strategy for FSD, confirming the same "neural world simulator" and architecture will "seamlessly transfer" to its humanoid robot.

A new video shows Tesla's humanoid robot sparring with a human, demonstrating surprising speed and fluidity. The demonstration was followed by a key strategic comment from Optimus lead Ashok Elluswamy, who highlighted the plan to unify the AI models for Optimus and Tesla's self-driving cars.

Following the departure of Milan Kovac, veteran AI software lead Ashok Elluswamy is reportedly taking the helm of Tesla's Optimus project. We look at the background of the man now tasked with realizing one of Elon Musk's most ambitious goals: deploying humanoid robots at scale.