Sam Boughedda

Investing.com — Former Tesla (NASDAQ:) Autopilot software engineer Christopher “CJ” Moore, who joined Apple’s (NASDAQ:) car project in 2021, has left to join Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ:), a lidar company.

Moore was the director for autopilot software at Tesla before moving to Apple and becoming director of autonomous system.

In a press release today it was revealed Moore will link up with Luminar to lead its software development team, aiming to advance Sentinel, Luminar’s full-stack safety and autonomous solution.

“With industry-defining technology and now nearly a dozen major commercial wins in hand, Luminar is ready for its next phase of leadership as we focus all-in on execution,” said Luminar founder and CEO, Austin Russell. “We’re attracting the best leaders in the world in their fields to execute our vision and deliver on the future of transportation.”

This news comes as a blow to Apple’s private car project. The company had lost three engineers from start-ups in December 2013, while its chief car project officer Doug Field left the company to join Ford.

Wednesday saw a more than 8% increase in stock of Luminar.