A former AI lead for Tesla’s Optimus robots, Ashish Kumar, is launching a robotics startup, The Information reported. The company is building robots that are not humanoid, for tasks that skilled workers usually do in manufacturing and aerospace. The report is behind a paywall, so some details below come from summaries of it.
What is reported
A Dealroom summary of the report names the company as Intelligent Machines, based in San Francisco. It says the startup has hired several former Optimus team members, is focused on software for now and uses reinforcement learning. It also says the company is raising a seed round that could reach about $100 million, citing two people with direct knowledge. We have not confirmed that figure.
His path
Electrek reported in September 2025 that Kumar announced on X that he had decided to leave Tesla, and that he then joined Meta’s AI team as a researcher. Electrek’s headline called it another Optimus leader leaving Tesla. Accounts differ on how long he led Optimus AI, so we are not giving a number.
What is not known
No investors are named in what we read. We found no coverage from Reuters, Bloomberg or TechCrunch, and no comment from Tesla or Musk.
Our take: Optimus is central to Musk’s pitch for Tesla, so each departure gets attention. This one is notable because the new company is aiming at a different kind of robot, not another humanoid. With one paywalled source behind it, the funding figure and the company name should be treated as reported, not settled.
