Waymo staff research scientist and tech lead manager Charles Ruizhongtai Qi took to Linkedin on Friday to announce that he would be joining EV giant Tesla Inc‘s TSLA Autopilot team to work on its full self-driving software. As per his LinkedIn profile, Qi has been employed at Waymo since October 2019 and has completed over 4 years at the Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL autonomous driving tech unit.
What Happened: In his post on LinkedIn, Qi said that he was offered a job at both Waymo and Tesla in 2019 but chose to join Waymo despite Tesla being one of his top choices alongside Waymo.
“Although I initially chose Waymo, my interest in Tesla has remained strong. I became a Tesla Model 3 owner and have kept a close eye on the team since then,” Qi wrote while adding that the choice of swapping jobs was “carefully considered.”
Waymo and Tesla, despite their differences in approach, are building towards the same goal, Qi noted. Diversity in approaches, he said, is essential to progressing autonomous driving.
Reminiscing Time At Waymo: In his post, Qi commended Waymo for scaling its robotaxi services to Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. He recounted that the idea of rbotaxis with no drivers was only a concept and not a reality when he joined the company in late 2019.
“The talent here is unparalleled, and it has been an honor to work alongside such exceptional individuals. You will be the part I miss the most,” he wrote.
Qi also shared a few pictures with his colleagues.
Other Rivals: Waymo rival Cruise‘s operations remain suspended across the U.S. after one of its robotaxis got involved in a pedestrian accident in early October.
Cruise parent General Motors said in January that the company would relaunch Cruise but did not provide a roadmap.
Image via Shutterstock
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