Tesla has quietly pulled in another major AI hire — this time straight out of Apple’s ranks. In social media posts over the weekend, former Apple engineer Yilun Chen announced he has officially joined Tesla’s Optimus AI team, capping off nearly four years at the Cupertino giant working across hardware, engineering, research, and early-stage product incubation.
“After almost four memorable years, I moved on from Apple last week, closing an unforgettable chapter of my professional journey,” Chen wrote on X. He added that he was “sincerely grateful for the opportunities to work on so many amazing projects and products across the company,” noting that some of the work he contributed to is still secret: “Though many of them are not public yet (wait for the surprise!).”
Chen said Apple gave him the space to grow “from IC to tech lead, from engineering to research, from larger engineering teams to early product incubation and prototyping,” while sharing gratitude for the colleagues and mentors who shaped “a journey truly unparalleled and meaningful.”
Now, he’s headed to Tesla to help build its humanoid robot platform. “I’m joining Tesla Optimus AI team to work on humanoid robots,” Chen said, calling humanoids “the ultimate dream of our generation.” After visiting Tesla’s Optimus lab, Chen said he was “totally blown away by the scale and sophistication” of the operation, adding that his first week was already filled with “spontaneous deep technical discussions, direct communications across levels, hardcore building and crazy ideas with super fast iterations.”
The timing of the hire is notable. Earlier this month, Tesla began constructing a massive Optimus production facility at Gigafactory Texas — an initiative first previewed during the company’s annual shareholder meeting. Tesla plans to build up to 10 million Optimus robots (or “Optimi,” as CEO Elon Musk recently confirmed they will be called) per year at the site. Musk also recently reiterated that pilot production is already underway at Tesla’s Fremont Factory, with plans to scale to 1 million units annually by late 2026.
Optimus units are already performing real-world tasks in Tesla factories, and Musk has said the company is targeting a manufacturing cost of around $20,000 per robot at scale. He has also stated that Optimus could eventually represent 80% of Tesla’s total valuation. During Tesla’s Q3 earnings call, Musk said the company plans to unveil Optimus V3 in early 2026, calling it “so real that you’ll need to poke it to believe it’s an actual robot.”
Chen’s move also comes shortly after Tesla lost its Optimus AI lead to Meta — a sign of the escalating talent race unfolding around AI and humanoid robotics.
