Tesla has hired ex-Apple head developer Chris Lattner to be its new vice president of Autopilot software.
Lattner, who lead the team that created the language for Apple apps, joins Tesla at a time it has begun fitting all of its cars with full-autonomy hardware. His new team will be responsible for developing software to work with this hardware, which consists of eight surround cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors and a forward-facing radar.
Once new software is produced, Tesla can supply existing models with new code via over-the-air updates. The plan is to eventually enable all cars running its latest hardware with more advanced driverless functions and to “accelerate the future of autonomous driving”.
Last week, the California-based company’s Gigafactory, located in Nevada, began producing battery cells. The firm has been preparing to significantly ramp up production following the launches of its Model X and Model 3.
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Interesting news, especially
Apple and Tesla make my most useful tech products, so I see the appointment more as inter-company synergy than straight competition.
or maybe
Blimey