[msb-alumni] Google loses longtime self-driving car guru
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 7 Aug 2016 16:21:40 -0400
BlankGoogle loses longtime self-driving car guru Marco della Cava , USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO - Google has lost the man sitting in the technological driver's
seat of its pioneering self-driving car project. In a blog post on Medium
Friday, chief technology officer'Chris Urmson'announced that effective
immediately
he was leaving the team'after shepherding Google's pioneering'effort
through'seven years and 1.8 million miles of road testing. "I've decided the
time
is right to step down and find my next adventure," Urmson wrote. "After leading
our cars through the human equivalent of 150 years of driving and helping
our project make the leap from pure research to developing a product that we
hope someday anyone will be able to use, I am ready for a fresh challenge.
Urmson did not indicate what he would be doing next. The news comes as The New
York Times reports citing unnamed sources that two'Google car engineers,
Jiajun Zhu and Dave Ferguson, have left to work on a start-up. Johnny Luu, a
spokesman for Alphabet, the parent company of the "moonshot" X division of
Google, would not comment on the departure of the two engineers. But Luu'added
that "Chris has been a vital force for the project, helping the team move'from
a research phase to a point where this life-saving technology will soon become
a
reality. He departs with our warmest wishes. Google car CEO John Krafcik
tweeted that "Chris is an incredible colleague & leader. Thank you for your
passion & humility. Good luck on your new adventures! The roboticist's departure
is significant. Urmson is a leading light in the once niche and now burgeoning
field of autonomous driving, having honed his craft at Carnegie Mellon
University
and through various Department of Defense self-driving car contests. Experts
such as Urmson ncreasingly are the life blood of an array of private efforts
to build semi- and eventually fully self-driving vehicles. Companies pursuing
this mission include tech outfits such as Uber and reportedly Apple, as well
as a growing number of auto manufacturers including Audi, BMW and Ford. One of
the most advanced if controversial efforts is being pushed by electric automaker
Tesla, whose semi-autonomous Autopilot feature has logged some 100 million
miles
but has also resulted in a death of a Florida Tesla owner, which regulators
are investigating . Google's effort in the field stands out'because the company
remains determined to produce a self-driving car that seats two people
and does not feature a steering wheel or pedals. Most other automakers are
choosing to retain those critical components of the traditional automobile.
Most experts believe that while the technology to create an autonomous vehicle
is developing quickly, what will lag behind is both government regulation
and public acceptance of the transition from human-piloted machines.
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