Key Apple Car Personnel Resign Again: "Almost the Entire Team Has Left Over 2 Years"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Bloomberg reported on the 25th (local time) that key personnel of Apple's electric vehicle (Apple Car) project continue to leave the company, including an autonomous driving software expert from Tesla who joined Apple last year.

According to the report, Luminar, a manufacturer of automotive laser sensors, announced in a statement that Christopher CJ Moore, who was the head of Autopilot development, Tesla's autonomous driving assistance software, joined the company in August last year. Luminar said Moore will lead the software team developing autonomous driving safety devices integrated with LiDAR at Luminar.

Luminar, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, recently signed supply contracts for laser sensors for semi-autonomous driving with Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and SAIC Motor.

This is not the first time personnel in charge of the Apple Car project have left. Earlier this month, Ian Goodfellow, a star executive responsible for AI and the Apple Car project, moved to DeepMind, an AI subsidiary of Alphabet, Google's parent company. Last year, key figures such as Eric Rogers, the lead engineer for radar system development, also left Apple.

Bloomberg stated that almost all key personnel of the Apple Car project have left the company over the past two years, and Apple is recruiting new personnel from companies like Ford and Rivian to fill the gaps.

Apple has been operating a special project team called 'Project Titan' to promote the Apple Car business since 2014.