Kuang was the pinnacle of autonomy at Normal Motors’ self-driving unit, Cruise, until final yr, based on his LinkedIn profile.
His appointment comes at a time when Tesla has seen a collection of high-profile departures up to now yr, together with the resignation of two senior executives on Thursday.
Tesla didn’t instantly reply to Reuters’ request for remark, whereas Kuang couldn’t be reached.
Whereas Kuang’s position at Tesla will not be clear, Ashok Elluswamy, who was the primary engineer employed for Tesla’s Autopilot crew in 2014, has largely been main the corporate’s self-driving initiatives.
Omead Afshar, a high Tesla government and longtime Elon Musk confidant, left the electric-vehicle maker together with North America HR Director Jenna Ferrua, sources acquainted with the matter informed Reuters on Thursday.
Tesla goes by way of sweeping company-wide restructuring, throughout which the electrical car maker has laid off hundreds of workers and shifted its strategic focus towards AI-driven self-driving technology and robotics.
The corporate rolled out a small batch of its Model Y robotaxis in Austin, Texas on June 22, ferrying paying passengers in a small space of the town and CEO Elon Musk has pledged to develop into a number of U.S. cities by subsequent yr.
Musk mentioned final month Tesla will ship its first automotive autonomously from manufacturing unit to buyer in June.
Normal Motors mentioned earlier this yr that it had accomplished the complete acquisition of its Cruise enterprise to concentrate on growing the autonomous expertise for private autos, not robotaxis.