Elon Musk has long described Tesla as more than just a car company — to him, it’s a software company that just happens to build cars. But as the company charges toward an ambitious and perhaps unrealistic deadline for self-driving tech, it’s now losing one of the people who helped make that software vision possible. David Lau, Tesla’s longtime software VP, is reportedly exiting the company after nearly 13 years, and the timing couldn’t be worse.
Lau’s departure was first reported by Bloomberg, citing insider sources. Though Tesla hasn’t officially confirmed the move, the loss feels significant. Lau wasn’t just another name on the executive roster; he was instrumental in shaping Tesla’s infotainment systems, managing over-the-air software updates, and representing the company’s tech side alongside Musk at various public events. In other words, he wasn’t just a software guy — he was the software guy.
Now, as Musk’s high-stakes bet on robotaxis barrels toward a self-imposed June 2025 launch deadline, the person who might have been key to delivering that vision is stepping away. And it’s not just Lau. Tesla’s leadership ranks have started to look like a revolving door.
At the end of March, reports from The Verge suggested that Haofei Wang, Tesla’s head of engineering, is also preparing to leave. Meanwhile, Dave Heinzinger, the company’s communications director, is allegedly exiting just three months into the role, per sources speaking to Axios. None of these changes have been publicly confirmed by Tesla, but that hasn’t stopped the internal leaks, and those leaks suggest growing internal tensions.
All of this is happening amid worsening external optics. Tesla has been hit with historic stock losses, fueled in part by public backlash over Musk’s increasingly erratic political posturing. The brand, once synonymous with cutting-edge innovation, is now being scrutinized through a more skeptical lens. Just recently, a Cybertruck owner vented on X that Carvana had offered him only $54,000 for a resale, roughly half of what he originally paid. The official Cybertruck account fired back, but the damage was done. That post only reinforced the growing narrative: Tesla’s perceived value, both as a product and as a company, is slipping.
“Departure gate,” indeed. The timing of these exits couldn’t be more inconvenient for Musk. With robotaxis on the horizon, shareholders on edge, and public trust eroding, losing someone like Lau, who helped build the software backbone of Tesla’s vehicles, is a major blow.
