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The recent Tesla robotics staff shift has drawn wide attention. Several former engineers from Tesla’s Autopilot and Optimus programs have moved to a startup called Sunday Robotics. That shift signals important changes in how robotics talent flows from major firms to emerging challengers. As the new workers build a home robot named Memo, the move could reshape the competitive landscape.
Who left Tesla and joined Sunday Robotics and what they bring
The Tesla robotics staff shift centers around at least ten former Tesla employees now working at Sunday Robotics. Their prior roles at Tesla included involvement in Autopilot and the Optimus humanoid program. This shift draws from engineers with deep experience in AI infrastructure, robotics engineering, and autonomous systems.
One of the prominent movers is Perry Jia. He spent nearly six years working on Tesla’s Autopilot and Optimus efforts. This background gives him strong credibility in both self-driving and humanoid robot design. He announced earlier this week that he left Tesla during the summer and now works at Sunday Robotics. His move reflects a personal decision to leave a major firm for a startup setting.
Read more on our article, Toyota’s Walk Me Robot Chair Redefines Mobility with AI and Robotic Legs, published on November 6th, 2025, SquaredTech.
Another key contributor is Nadeesha Amarasinghe. His LinkedIn profile shows over seven years at Tesla where he held the role of engineering lead for AI infrastructure. At Tesla, Amarasinghe worked on both Optimus and self-driving systems. His shift to Sunday Robotics adds deep software and AI infrastructure knowledge to the startup’s small core team.
Beyond these senior staff, Sunday Robotics also hired multiple former interns and mid-level employees from Tesla’s Autopilot and humanoid groups. Their experience spans talent areas such as vision systems, robot learning, and full-stack hardware/software integration. Among them is Jason Peterson, who had previously worked on Optimus and robotaxi talent efforts. His prior experience gives insight into both mobility and robotic manipulation systems.
Overall, Sunday Robotics now employs about 50 people, including engineers and “memory developers.” These developers play a role in training the robot, which suggests the startup is building a specialized data and learning pipeline. For a small company, the infusion of experienced staff with Tesla backgrounds gives them a heavy technical punch.
Sunday Robotics itself formed in 2024, co-founded by Cheng Chi and Tony Zhao. Zhao has a direct connection to Tesla: he interned on Tesla’s Autopilot team in 2022. That link may have helped attract other Tesla alumni. The founding story and staffing pattern show that the Tesla robotics staff shift is not random. It may arise from personal networks, shared ambition, and a belief in building next-generation robotics hardware for consumers and homes.
What Sunday Robotics aims for with Memo and why this shift matters
Sunday Robotics recently emerged from stealth mode and unveiled its home robot, Memo. The appearance of Memo underlines the purpose behind the staffing shift. The Tesla robotics staff shift feeds talent into a startup that targets home robotics — a segment separate from Tesla’s original focus on cars and humanoid ambition.
The Memo video demonstration shows the robot performing everyday tasks: picking up wine glasses, loading a dishwasher, folding socks. These tasks highlight the startup’s ambition to deliver practical domestic robotics for real household use. The presence of former Tesla engineers on the team suggests a serious technical foundation for those goals.
Why does the Tesla robotics staff shift matter in this context? First, it shows that engineers with high-end robotics experience believe a startup can deliver home robot value faster or more flexibly than legacy firms. That belief can influence others in the industry. If a small team can assemble significant talent and begin building usable robots, that challenges assumptions about who leads robotics development.
Second, the mix of AI, hardware, and real-world robotics skills from Tesla alumni may give Sunday Robotics a competitive edge. Autopilot and Optimus engineers know how to build perception systems, motion planning, safety systems, and produce hardware—and adapt them to field conditions. Translating those abilities into a home setting could accelerate progress on robot usability, reliability, and safety.
Third, the shift can reshape how companies recruit robotics talent. As startups like Sunday Robotics attract experienced engineers, larger firms may need to rethink retention, project focus, or offer more creative roles to avoid talent drain. The Tesla robotics staff shift may intensify competition for robotics human capital across the industry.
Implications of the Tesla Robotics Staff Shift for the Broader Robotics Industry
The staffing shift sends a clear signal across the robotics space. SquaredTech highlights several consequences:
1. Rise of focused home-robot startups with serious talent
The Tesla robotics staff shift has given a small startup like Sunday Robotics power that rivals firms with greater resources. When a startup can attract senior engineers with high-end experience, the barrier to innovation in home robotics lowers. This could lead to accelerated development of robots that deliver real value in homes within shorter time frames.
Historically, home robots struggled due to limited budgets, insufficient R&D, or lack of integrated teams. Now, if a team with strong background in autonomy and robotics builds a product from the ground up, the odds of producing something meaningful grow. That may push other startups to increase hiring or pivot toward domestic robotics.
2. Increased pressure on established firms to retain talent
Large companies may need to rethink how they structure robotics groups. The Tesla robotics staff shift shows that even highly invested teams can leave. Established firms that hope to lead robotics development must offer compelling projects, clear vision, and attractive working conditions. Otherwise, they risk losing staff to emerging firms with bold goals.
This shift may cause firms to accelerate internal roadmap plans or increase transparency about product timelines to keep key staff motivated. It may also push them to create spin-outs or special projects to give engineers fresh challenges.
3. Faster competition and innovation cycles in home robotics
With several ex-Tesla engineers now working at Sunday Robotics, the pace of development for home robots may speed up. Their experience with AI, hardware integration, safety protocols, and large-scale automation could shorten design cycles for products like Memo. This competition could push the industry forward faster than previously expected.
As more firms attempt consumer-ready robots, we may see a wave of new product announcements, partnerships, and hardware releases. The Tesla robotics staff shift might be a tipping point where home robotics becomes mainstream rather than just experimental.
4. A broader talent migration trend that changes the robotics workforce
This staff move may encourage similar migrations. Engineers unhappy with long development cycles at major firms may seek startups that promise faster impact, tangible products, and flexibility. The shift could reshape the talent distribution across robotics and AI firms globally. As startups grow and veteran engineers leave big firms, the center of innovation may shift from legacy players to younger, flexible teams with ambitious roadmaps.
What to Watch Next: How Sunday Robotics and Others May Leverage This Shift
The Tesla robotics staff shift sets a new baseline in the industry. For observers, developers, and potential customers, some factors will determine whether this shift leads to lasting change or remains a headline.
- Product quality and reliability. Sunday Robotics will need to deliver Memo with consistent performance. Home robots face tougher challenges than lab robots or concept models. They must handle unexpected environmental changes, user behavior, and safety constraints. Success will depend on the team’s ability to turn engineering experience into stable consumer products.
- Funding and production support. Startups often struggle in scaling from prototype to mass production. Even with talent from Tesla, Sunday Robotics needs funding, manufacturing partnerships, and supply chain strength to deliver Memo at scale.
- Market acceptance and affordability. For home robots to succeed, consumers must find value in them at a reasonable price point. The shift may improve capability, but price and demand will ultimately determine adoption.
- Competition response. Other robotics companies and startups will likely accelerate hiring and development. Increased competition may lead to rapid cycles of innovation and product release.
If Sunday Robotics and similar firms succeed, this shift may mark the start of a new phase in robotics — one where home robots become common, and where engineers move fluidly between major firms and agile startups.
Read more on our article, Nike’s Project Amplify: The Robotic Sneaker Revolutionizing How We Move, published on October 28th, 2025, SquaredTech.
The Tesla robotics staff shift shows how talent movement can reshape entire segments of tech development. By joining Sunday Robotics, former Autopilot and Optimus engineers are betting that a small, focused team can build consumer robots that matter. SquaredTech will watch their progress closely. If Memo becomes real and scales, this shift may define the next chapter in robotics history.
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