While Apple, Inc. is allegedly hard at work on an autonomous car codenamed “Titan,” the California-based tech giant has added still more legitimacy to the rumors by poaching a senior engineer from the ranks of Tesla Motors.
Reuters reports that the engineer in-question is one Jamie Carlson, who previously worked on Tesla Motors’ “Autopilot” semi-autonomous driving system for the Model S sedan. Prior to that, Carlson worked with Gentex Corp., a supplier headquartered in Michigan, on automotive vision systems.
Referring to updates on several professional LinkedIn profiles, Reuters claims that Carlson is just the latest in a group of at least seven individuals with similar autonomous driving development experience. Other, similarly-experienced engineers to join Apple, Inc. include staff formerly from BMW, Ford, Volkswagen, Delphi, Bosch, and ZF’s TRW subsidiary. Together, their range of expertise includes video-based driver assistance, computer vision and object detection, and connected and automated vehicle technologies.
Tesla Motors is set to break new ground in the arena of autonomous vehicle technology, as the Palo Alto-based maker of electric cars prepares to roll-out its Autopilot system across a sizeable fleet of Model S sedans via over-the-air software update. No word yet on how Tesla Motors is reacting to having one of its top autonomous system engineers poached – nor what this could mean for the company’s efforts going forward.
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