Tesla Inc. has lost the 11-year veteran who built the software backbone of its robotaxi service, weeks before Cybercab volume production is supposed to begin.

Thomas Dmytryk announced his departure on LinkedIn after 11 years at the company.

He led the team that built Tesla’s over-the-air update infrastructure, which now serves a fleet approaching 10 million vehicles, and more recently oversaw the software backend for the Austin robotaxi ride-hailing service.

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The departures have accelerated in 2026.

Tesla has lost two senior executives, including a 13-year veteran VP in February alone, following the exit of its long-time head of software David Lau in 2025, 18-year powertrain veteran Drew Baglino in April 2024, and both the Model Y and Cybertruck program managers on the same day in November 2025.

Most critically for the robotaxi thesis, Cybercab program manager Victor Nechita left in late February, days after the first production unit rolled off the line at Giga Texas.

Now the person who built the ride-hailing network’s software foundation is gone too.

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Elon Musk has promised expansion to seven new cities in H1 2026 and Cybercab production starting this month. Prediction market traders remain skeptical across the board.

On Polymarket, bettors give a 78% chance Tesla delivers fewer than 350,000 vehicles in Q1, down sharply from the 418,000 it shipped in Q4 2025. A contract on launching robotaxis in California by June 30 sits at 16%.

A contract for “Optimus available for purchase by June 30” trades at just 6%.

Bettors have a track record of profiting from Musk’s missed deadlines. An $8.8 million Polymarket contract on a fully driverless launch by June 2025 expired worthless after Musk himself pumped it as a “money-making opportunity.”

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Wolfe Research analyst Emmanuel Rosner projects the robotaxi business will lose roughly $500 million in 2026 before reaching breakeven in 2027.

TSLA traded around $393 on Monday, down 1.4%.

Q1 earnings on April 28 may provide the next real update on whether the institutional knowledge walking out the door is slowing execution.

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