What you need to know
- Apple Car director CJ Moore is leaving the company after just six months.
- Moore has joined Luminar, a company that makes automotive lidar hardware and software.
- Moore was formerly of Tesla and had only been at Apple since November.
The director of Apple's car project, CJ Moore, has left the company after just six months to join automotive lidar company Luminar, the latter has announced.
In a press release today Luminar stated:
Luminar (Nasdaq: LAZR), the global leader in automotive lidar hardware and software technology, announced several new additions to its technical leadership. Taner Ozcelik, the founder of Nvidia's automotive business, joins Luminar as executive vice president and general manager to oversee product development, R&D, program management, and Luminar's semiconductor subsidiaries. CJ Moore, who served as director of Autopilot software at Tesla and most recently a director of autonomous systems at Apple, is joining Luminar to lead its software program and realize its vision for next-generation safety and autonomy.
Luminar says that Moore, formerly of Tesla, will lead Luminar's global software development team, advancing the company's 'Sentinel' product, a full-stack advanced safety and autonomous driving solution. As Bloomberg's Mark Gurman notes, Moore only joined Apple in November of 2021:
CJ Moore, the former Tesla Autopilot Director who joined Apple’s car project last year as a director, has already left. He’s heading to Luminar. https://t.co/d840uELRUFCJ Moore, the former Tesla Autopilot Director who joined Apple’s car project last year as a director, has already left. He’s heading to Luminar. https://t.co/d840uELRUF— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) May 25, 2022May 25, 2022
While we know that Apple Car has been a reality internally at Apple for several years, its team has undergone some massive upheaval of late. Ming-Chi Kuo reported in March that the Apple Car team "has been dissolved for some time" and that it was in need of reorganization if the company wanted to hit its 2025 mass production goal.
Apple Car is expected to be an autonomous electric vehicle with a hefty price tag.
