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| Apple ramps up efforts to develop self-driving cars |
Apple has stepped up its car development efforts with the appointment of a former Tesla engineer who this year sparked controversy over comments on the company's self-driving capabilities.
iPhone manufacturer Christopher Moore has chosen as the team for the self-driving car.
In terms of software, Moore informed Stewart Powers, another former Tesla executive who joined Apple late last year. Powers led Tesla's autopilot team before leaving mid-2019.
The move shows the company is working hard to develop self-driving technologies, an adventurous race with automakers like Tesla.
Moore joined a department known for secrecy. Apple has not publicly announced its plans for the cars. The person in charge of the automotive project, codenamed Project Titan, left the company earlier this year to lead technical work at Ford.
At Tesla, Moore noted that CEO Elon Musk exaggerated autopilot skills. Earlier this year, California Department of Motor Vehicles officials interviewed Moore as part of an investigation into the self-driving program.
The department asked Moore about Musk's claim that Tesla will achieve fully self-driving driving this year. In response, Moore noted that, according to a summary of the dialogue conducted by the California Automobile Administration, Musk's statements do not correspond to technical reality.
Musk said many years ago that he believed Tesla was close to launching a Level 5 autonomous driving feature.
This means that the car can be driven without human intervention, which is different from the current system called Level 2, which requires the driver to put their hands on the steering wheel.
Apple hires project managers for Tesla car consultants
The family of a Florida man was killed in a Tesla autopilot crash in 2019. The family filed a lawsuit and tried to name Moore as a witness. In October, legal documents were leaked regarding the case of Moore leaving Tesla.
Apple recently replaced Dougfield, the former project manager, with Kevin Lynch. Since the product was introduced, he has led software development for the company's Apple Watch.
He also hired other celebrities from the auto industry. This includes Ulrich Kranz, the former CEO of Canoo, a self-driving car startup.
The iPhone manufacturer's team includes former Tesla executives. Including leadership expert Michael Schweikuch and chief designer Steve McManus.
At the same time, the group loses several managers. In addition to Feld this year, Robot Dave Scott and Security Officer Jaime Waido will both leave.
Another former director of these jobs, Dave Rosenthal, recently left Apple after previously leaving the project.