After Sunday Robotics came out of stealth mode last week, it was revealed that the team was staffed by Tesla alumni.
At least 10 former Tesla employees work at the robotics startup, including several employees who worked on Tesla’s humanoid and self-driving efforts for years, according to a LinkedIn analysis.
Perry Gia, who worked on Tesla’s Autopilot and Optimus programs for nearly six years, announced last week that he would be leaving the electric car maker over the summer to work at a startup.
Nadeesha Amarasinghe also joined Sunday Robotics over the summer, according to her LinkedIn profile. He previously spent more than seven years at Tesla, where he was the engineering lead for AI infrastructure supporting both Optimus and Autopilot.
Tesla’s Autopilot and Optimus programs are among the company’s most high-profile initiatives. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the automaker’s ability to solve self-driving will determine the company’s long-term value. He also said the company is focusing on its humanoid robot, Optimus, with the goal of eventually shipping millions of robots that can perform tasks ranging from factory work to personal care.
Sunday Robotics also has a number of former Tesla interns and Autopilot employees who have worked at Tesla for the past five years, including former Optimus and Robotaxi talent Jason Peterson, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Sunday Robotics’ LinkedIn page says the startup employs about 50 people, including engineers and “memory developers” who help train the robots.
Tesla and Sunday Robotics did not respond to requests for comment.
Chen Qi and Tony Chao co-founded Sunday Robotics in 2024. Chao served as an intern on Tesla’s Autopilot team in 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Sunday Robotics announced the home robot “Memo” on November 19th. Zhao posted videos to X showing Memo lifting wine glasses, loading the dishwasher and folding socks.
Today, we will introduce a major change in robot AI. @sundayrobotics.
Introducing ACT-1: A frontier robot foundation model trained with zero robot data.
– super long term tasks
– Generalization of zero shots
– Advanced dexterity🧵-> pic.twitter.com/kaj1bwyFyY
— Tony Chao (@tonyzzhao) November 19, 2025
Sunday Robotics is one of many robotics startups developing robots for the home.
Most recently, robotics startup 1X unveiled a consumer version of its Neo home robot in October. The company said it plans to start shipping robots to customers next year.
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