Tesla Robots Quit For Chill Startup That Makes Bots Fold Socks

KEY POINTS

•At least 10 former Tesla employees, including Perry Jia and Nadeesha Amarasinghe, joined Sunday Robotics this summer.
•Sunday Robotics was co-founded in 2024 by Tony Zhao, a former Tesla Autopilot intern, and Cheng Chi.
•On November 19, 2025, Sunday Robotics revealed Memo, a home robot capable of tasks like loading a dishwasher and folding socks.
•The startup employs about 50 people, including engineers and 'memory developers' focused on robot training and development.

In a breathtaking episode of 'Who Wants To Be A Robot Traitor?', at least 10 Tesla alums—including Perry Jia, a six-year Autopilot and Optimus veteran, and Nadeesha Amarasinghe, the AI infrastructure engineering lead of seven years—exited the electric car giant's futuristic assembly line for Sunday Robotics. Founded in 2024 by Tesla intern alum Tony Zhao and Cheng Chi, Sunday unveiled its proud creation, Memo, a home robot with Olympic-level sock-folding and wine-glass-loading skills on November 19, 2025. The startup's staff of 50, including 'memory developers' (we assume robot psychiatrists), swooped up ex-Tesla talent who previously wrangled Autopilot and humanoid bot fiascos. Meanwhile, Elon Musk's dream of mass millions of factory-to-caregiving Tesla bots might need a pep talk: his star players are busy helping robots with dishwasher duties at a rival. Tesla and Sunday declined to comment, leaving us to wonder if Optimus is just jealous.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Tesla’s best AI minds fled to a startup where robots actually learn the tough stuff: folding socks and loading dishwashers. The future is domestic servitude, baby.

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