Tesla Reshuffles Executive Team, Hires Former Cruise Autonomy Head Amid AI Push

Tesla loses key execs but hires a new one from GM's failed robotaxi company

Jay Peters is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. There's some executive shuffling going on at Tesla. Two key leaders have left recently - one of them being fired by CEO Elon Musk - but the company also hired an exec from Cruise, GM's failed robotaxi company. Yesterday, reports from Forbes and CNBC said that Musk had fired Omead Afshar, who formerly led operations in North America and Europe and was a close confidant of Musk's. (Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal also reported that Afshar left the company, though did not say he was fired.) The firing follows a major slump in sales for Tesla's automotive business - last quarter, revenue for that organization fell 20 percent year-over-year. Afshar first joined Tesla in 2017, where he started as a project manager in the office of the CEO, according to his LinkedIn. In 2022, he was reportedly investigated internally for a glass purchase for a secret project. Tesla also recently lost Milan Kovac, its VP who headed up the Optimus humanoid robotics team. Kovac said that he left because he needed to spend more time with family abroad. Musk thanked Kovac in a reply. To add to its executive ranks, though, Tesla hired Henry Kuang, who formerly was Head of Autonomy at Cruise, Electrek reports. He lists his title as "Director, AI / Deep Learning for Autonomous Driving" on his LinkedIn, which says he started in the job in May. Tesla is ramping up its robotaxi efforts, though the initial launch this month has been rocky.

Tesla hires former Cruise executive as AI director, Electrek reports

June 27 (Reuters) - Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab has hired former Cruise executive, Henry Kuang, as the automaker's AI director, according to a report by news website Electrek on Thursday, as the company looks to expand robotaxi operations in the United States. Kuang was the head of autonomy at General Motors' self-driving unit, Cruise, till last year, according to his LinkedIn profile. His appointment comes at a time when Tesla has seen a series of high-profile departures in the past year, including the resignation of two senior executives on Thursday. Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment, while Kuang could not be reached. While Kuang's role at Tesla is not clear, Ashok Elluswamy, who was the first engineer hired for Tesla's Autopilot team in 2014, has largely been leading the company's self-driving initiatives. Omead Afshar, a top Tesla executive and longtime Elon Musk confidant, left the electric-vehicle maker along with North America HR Director Jenna Ferrua, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. Tesla is going through sweeping company-wide restructuring, during which the electric vehicle maker has laid off thousands of employees and shifted its strategic focus toward AI-driven self-driving technology and robotics. The company rolled out a small batch of its Model Y robotaxis in Austin, Texas on June 22, ferrying paying passengers in a small area of the city and CEO Elon Musk has pledged to expand into several U.S. cities by next year. Musk said last month Tesla will deliver its first car autonomously from factory to customer in June. General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab said earlier this year that it had completed the full acquisition of its Cruise business to focus on developing the autonomous technology for personal vehicles, not robotaxis. Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial IntelligenceADAS, AV & SafetySoftware-Defined VehicleSupply ChainSustainable & EV Supply Chain

Tesla hires Head of Autonomy from GM's failed self-driving startup

Tesla has hired Henry Kuang, the former 'Head of Autonomy' at GM's failed self-driving startup, Cruise. The automaker has had difficulties with turnover in its Autopilot and self-driving division. Tesla has lost many leaders over the years and the departures have ramped up as of late. Here's a list of Tesla leaders related to Autopilot and self-driving efforts who have left the company: Meanwhile, there haven't been many high-profile hires as Tesla prefers to hire younger, more junior engineers and promote within. Amidst brand damage in recent years, Tesla has also faced more difficulties securing top hires. A recent leaked recording from a Tesla training session confirmed that the automaker has had a culture problem within its workforce. However, Electrek has found a rare new executive-level hire in Tesla's self-driving division. According to his LinkedIn profile, Henry Kuang has been hired by Tesla as "Director of AI and Deep Learning for Autonomous Driving." Kuang was a long-time Facebook engineer who joined Cruise in 2020 to lead the perception team and later became Senior Director in charge of Autonomy: Cruise was founded in 2013 to develop self-driving technology. It was acquired by GM in 2016. It operated its own self-driving fleet independently of GM, but it also contributed to the development of the automaker's ADAS system. A series of accidents and failures in 2023 led the company to withdraw its fleet of over 100 self-driving vehicles from the road. They have tried to bring back their autonomous ride-hailing service in California, but GM announced that it would stop funding the company in December and commenced a restructuring to entirely discontinue autonomous fleet operations and fold some of Cruise into GM's ADAS operations for consumer vehicles. Kuang has reportedly exited Cruise in 2024 and now joined Tesla last month, according to an update on his LInkedIn profile.

Tesla hires former Cruise executive as AI director: Report - The Economic Times

His appointment comes at a time when Tesla has seen a series of high-profile departures in the past year, including the resignation of two senior executives on Thursday.Tesla has hired former Cruise executive, Henry Kuang, as the automaker's AI director, according to a report by news website Electrek on Thursday, as the company looks to expand robotaxi operations in the United States. Kuang was the head of autonomy at General Motors' self-driving unit, Cruise, till last year, according to his LinkedIn profile. His appointment comes at a time when Tesla has seen a series of high-profile departures in the past year, including the resignation of two senior executives on Thursday. Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment, while Kuang could not be reached. While Kuang's role at Tesla is not clear, Ashok Elluswamy, who was the first engineer hired for Tesla's Autopilot team in 2014, has largely been leading the company's self-driving initiatives. Omead Afshar, a top Tesla executive and longtime Elon Musk confidant, left the electric-vehicle maker along with North America HR Director Jenna Ferrua, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. Tesla is going through sweeping company-wide restructuring, during which the electric vehicle maker has laid off thousands of employees and shifted its strategic focus toward AI-driven self-driving technology and robotics. The company rolled out a small batch of its Model Y robotaxis in Austin, Texas on June 22, ferrying paying passengers in a small area of the city and CEO Elon Musk has pledged to expand into several U.S. cities by next year. Musk said last month Tesla will deliver its first car autonomously from factory to customer in June. General Motors said earlier this year that it had completed the full acquisition of its Cruise business to focus on developing the autonomous technology for personal vehicles, not robotaxis.