Geordie Rose, co-founder of humanoid robot startup Sanctuary AI, is leaving his role as chief executive officer, just as its machines are to be deployed by auto giant Magna International in its factories.

The Vancouver-based AI company announced the leadership change in a company blog post on Saturday. Its board has named chief commercial officer James Wells as interim CEO. 

In the blog post, Sanctuary AI did not say whether Rose will remain with the company in a different role, or disclose why he departed. The company did not immediately respond to The Logic’s request for comment.

Rose co-founded Sanctuary in 2018, after founding Burnaby, B.C.-based quantum computing company D-Wave. He was also previously CEO of Kindred AI, which was acquired by Ocado Group in 2020.  

“Geordie is a pioneering force and visionary in the development of human-like intelligence and humanoid robotics, a category he created,” Sanctuary AI said in the blog post. “We are grateful for his contributions which have laid a strong foundation.” 

The firm’s five-foot-seven primary robot, Phoenix, uses an AI control system called Carbon, which allows it to learn and complete tasks. It was first commercially deployed at retailers Mark’s and Sport Chek.

Earlier this year, Sanctuary AI entered into a partnership with major car-parts manufacturer Magna to deploy its Phoenix robots in factories. Its venture capital arm Magna Technology Investments initially invested in Sanctuary’s $75.5-million Series A round, and the company is looking to use the robots widely in manufacturing facilities. 

In May, the startup said it’s also working with Microsoft to use its cloud platform for AI research. 

Sanctuary AI has secured up to $140 million to date and is backed by a long list of investors, including BDC Capital, Export Development Canada, Panache Ventures and the federal government’s flagship Strategic Innovation Fund.