When there’s smoke there’s fire, and when it comes to rumors surrounding Apple’s alleged plans to develop an electric vehicle, there’s a whole lot of smoke.
Advertisement
Apple has hired one of Tesla Motors’ senior engineers for work on its own self-driving technology – presumably as part of its Project Titan.
Carlson, it’s worth noting, is just the latest in a long line of intriguing hires Apple has made in recent months. The information surfaced via LinkedIn, where the network’s profile for Jamie Carlson revealed he has left Tesla and joined Apple. According to his LinkedIn profile, it now reads that he’s been working at Apple since August 2015 and is working on the company’s “Special Projects”.
Through July, Carlson was an engineer on Tesla’s Autopilot self-driving vehicle program, and before that he worked on automotive vision systems for Michigan-based supplier Gentex Corp.
Advertisement
Reuters also points out several other previously unknown hires with similar expertise in autonomous driving, including Megan McClain, a former Volkswagen engineer, Vinay Palakkode, a graduate researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, and Xianqiao Tong, who developed driver assistance systems for NVIDIA. Apparently the Cupertino company has begun hiring new employees who have had some kind of experience in the automotive industry, such as those who are working at Tesla. While developing and manufacturing its own branded vehicle is not without its logistical, economic, and practical challenges, it’s fast becoming apparent that Apple’s auto research might be much more involved than other exploratory research initiatives.
