Apple Car Team Loses Yet Another Key Employee as Turnover Continues

Apple has long been rumored to be planning an electric vehicle, but the team working on the project has reportedly faced many struggles over the years, including development challenges and the loss of some key employees.

Apple car wheel icon feature purple
One of the latest departures is CJ Moore, who has left Apple to join autonomous vehicle technology company Luminar. In a press release shared by Bloomberg, Luminar said Moore will lead the company's global software development team. Moore had served as a director of autonomous systems at Apple since August, after working on autopilot software at Tesla for nearly seven years, according to his LinkedIn profile.

The so-called "Apple Car" team has seen several departures and hires as turnover continues. Apple's director of machine learning Ian Goodfellow recently moved to Google, for example, while longtime Ford engineer Desi Ujkashevic joined Apple.

In late 2021, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple was aiming to develop an electric vehicle with full self-driving functionality that does not require human intervention, with the project being led by Apple executive Kevin Lynch. Gurman said Apple's ideal car would have no steering wheel and pedals for a hands-off driving experience. Apple's vehicle is expected to launch around 2025 at the earliest.

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Top Rated Comments

peg27 Avatar
49 months ago
Ford will be making mobile phones before Apple are making cars.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antnythr Avatar
49 months ago
The guy left Apple after less than a year. Sounds like a dumpster fire at Apple with so many big names leaving.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
49 months ago

To be honest, anyone who is a former Tesla autopilot engineer probably isn't the best hire. How late is that tech now?
Just because Musk makes unrealistic promises doesn't somehow make every AP engineer in the company a poor hire.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
49 months ago
SMH! What a disaster. Every week we're getting news like this. This, Apple car project may not be exciting to work with anymore.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
6787872 Avatar
49 months ago
tim cook is the steve balmer of apple. they both raised stock and profit but are completely uninspired and have no direction. hope he retires soon.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
49 months ago
Turns out he was after Moore money…
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)