Tesla's director of engineering for Autopilot has left the company for robotaxi rival Zoox. Elon Musk laid off over 10% of the company in April and is trying to pivot Tesla toward autonomous vehicles. AdvertisementZheng Gao, Tesla's director of engineering for Autopilot hardware and an eight-year veteran at the Elon Musk-run automaker is departing for rival robotaxi builder Zoox, the Amazon-backed company announced on Wednesday. Gao, who led hardware design for Tesla's Autopilot assisted-driving system, is the latest senior employee to leave the company. AdvertisementFour of CEO Elon Musk's direct reports previously announced their departures the week before Musk unveiled Tesla's Cybercab robotaxi in a glitzy Los Angeles event.

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Persons: Zoox, Zheng Gao, Elon Musk, Gao, Elon Musk's, Musk, Marc Van Impe, Nagesh, Drew Baglino, Rebecca Tinucci, Tesla, Waymo Organizations: Tesla, Elon, Google, Amazon, Las Locations: Los Angeles, California, Texas, San Francisco, Las Vegas