June 6 (Reuters) - Milan Kovac, the head of Tesla's

Optimus humanoid robot program, announced his plans to

step down in a post on X on Friday.

Kovac became the lead of the program in 2022 when he was

appointed director of Optimus and Autopilot Engineering, and he

took on the role of vice president in September last year.

"I've been far away from home for too long, and will need to

spend more time with family abroad. I want to make it clear that

this is the only reason," Kovac said in his social media post.

Bloomberg News, which initially reported the development,

said in its report that Kovac would leave his position

immediately, and Ashok Elluswamy, who currently leads Tesla's

autopilot teams, will take on his role.

Tesla and Elluswamy did not immediately respond to Reuters

requests for comment.

Musk has earlier said he expected Tesla to make thousands of

Optimus robots this year. He said in April that China's export

restrictions on rare-earth magnets had affected production of

the humanoid robots.

Tesla has shifted focus to launching the robots and its

robotaxi service, with much of the company's valuation hanging

on that bet.

"The only things that matter in the long term are autonomy

and Optimus," Musk told CNBC in May.