Volkswagen bags Autopilot program manager Alexandre Haag

[calisnow]

Saw this tonight. He will be Volkswagen's CTO of its autonomous vehicle unit. The article said one part of the reason was Haag feels Tesla is more focused on semiautonomous features vs full autonomy.

Tesla's Autopilot Unit Loses Another Senior Programmer

 

[Tam]

...more focused on semiautonomous features vs full autonomy...

Tesla focus is correct and very reasonable at this time. Let's get AP2 works first then autonomous later.

 

[JohnSnowNW]

Saw this tonight. He will be Volkswagen's CTO of its autonomous vehicle unit. The article said one part of the reason was Haag feels Tesla is more focused on semiautonomous features vs full autonomy.

Tesla's Autopilot Unit Loses Another Senior Programmer

One of the other reasons being the truck load of cash they backed into his driveway.

 

[Bladerskb]

Looks like I was right yet again! The demo was created just for PR and the development on FSD has been halted ever since. Yet people keeping saying "imagine where Tesla is at now since that demo"

 

[calisnow]

Looks like I was right yet again! The demo was created just for PR and the development on FSD has been halted ever since. Yet people keeping saying "imagine where Tesla is at now since that demo"

Are you a lonely undergrad in a dorm room somewhere with no friends? That's how you come off. This weird, constant me vs you routine smacks of teenager or college student who is slightly antisocial and is especially odd because you can't afford a Tesla yet you are very emotionally invested in the "debate" you keep trying to have.

 

[oktane]

Looks like I was right yet again! The demo was created just for PR and the development on FSD has been halted ever since. Yet people keeping saying "imagine where Tesla is at now since that demo"

No programmer leaves if they feel the project is going well. The Sr. AP programmer knows he's on a sinking ship with Tesla's lies regarding FSD/AP2. He knows if he stays he's getting deposed in the AP lawsuit. Better to abandon ship and head for greener pastures before his name is also smeared!

 

[Tam]

...The Sr. AP programmer knows he's on a sinking ship with Tesla's lies regarding FSD/AP2...

You are reading too much into the reasons of leaving: he wants to work on full autonomy, not lowly semi-autonomous system.

No one expects Tesla to release autonomous feature now when it just incrementally released autosteer from 35 to 45, to 55 and now 80 mph limits.

That is progress, not a sinking ship. It is not going the opposite direction.

Let's take care of semi-autonomous features first then autonomous will be dealt with later at the end of this year.

 

[oktane]

Tam,

I'm not saying you're wrong since there is no way for either one of us to know what is going on behind the scenes. But I'm just saying, I doubt the public answer is the whole story.

 

[brkaus]

I know plenty of engineers that have left to pursue more leadership/ownership. Esp if they felt their wasn't more room at the top where they were currently working.

Fame, fortune, a little of both (but usually more of the first).

 

[Zapped]

I wonder how many people leave their job, just to find out it wasn't worth the money.

 

[MarkS22]

Huge grain of salt because we have no idea of this guy's financial/family/career ambitions, but this would be a very strange time to leave if they're going to demo a fully autonomous LA to NYC trip in the next 8 months (or add significant strides toward Level 4 with the new hardware). One can only imagine how much more he'd be worth to VW (or any company) after being a senior programmer on that.

 

[Electroman]

Are you a lonely undergrad in a dorm room somewhere with no friends? That's how you come off. This weird, constant me vs you routine smacks of teenager or college student who is slightly antisocial and is especially odd because you can't afford a Tesla yet you are very emotionally invested in the "debate" you keep trying to have.

Well he has friend named octane

 

[Bladerskb]

Huge grain of salt because we have no idea of this guy's financial/family/career ambitions, but this would be a very strange time to leave if they're going to demo a fully autonomous LA to NYC trip in the next 8 months (or add significant strides toward Level 4 with the new hardware). One can only imagine how much more he'd be worth to VW (or any company) after being a senior programmer on that.

That LA to NYC demonstration means nothing. It doesn't involve any urban surface street and contains 99.9% highway and interstate. Why do people keep referring to it as some hallmark? Its been done many times before, all the way back to 2010.

 

[Bladerskb]

Are you a lonely undergrad in a dorm room somewhere with no friends? That's how you come off. This weird, constant me vs you routine smacks of teenager or college student who is slightly antisocial and is especially odd because you can't afford a Tesla yet you are very emotionally invested in the "debate" you keep trying to have.

funny how if I were the one who made this post my comments would be regarded as "snippiness".
But no i'm a software engineer and drive a BMW, I'm fairly capable of affording a tesla if I so choose.

 

[oktane]

Title should replace "bag" with hire. To me "bag" is ambiguous, and suggests he was "sacked" from VW, or fired. At least that's how I interpreted it.

 

[Tam]

...highway and interstate...

I drove my previous Tesla for the past 88,000 miles mostly on highways/freeways.

I have driven my current Model X for past 700 miles mostly on highways/freeways.

USA Autopilot fatality was on Florida highway.

China also claimed autopilot fatality on freeway as well but it is not proven because the car's log is not allowed to be retrieved/read.

It may not be a big deal to you but highway/freeway-accident-free driving is a priority for me.

 

[MarkS22]

That LA to NYC demonstration means nothing. It doesn't involve any urban surface street and contains 99.9% highway and interstate. Why do people keep referring to it as some hallmark? Its been done many times before, all the way back to 2010.

Come on. It doesn't mean nothing. Even just flawlessly executing 2,800 miles of highways is an achievement for a production car. There are plenty of potential anomalies that can pop up. How many cars can you purchase today with the sensors and hardware that can (potentially) do CA to NY on highways alone with no user intervention?

It was also suggested starting in a city and ending in somewhere like Times Square. It sounded like urban surface streets would be involved at least at the beginning and end.

 

[Bladerskb]

Come on. It doesn't mean nothing. Even just flawlessly executing 2,800 miles of highways is an achievement for a production car. There are plenty of potential anomalies that can pop up. How many cars can you purchase today with the sensors and hardware that can (potentially) do CA to NY on highways alone with no user intervention?

It was also suggested starting in a city and ending in somewhere like Times Square. It sounded like urban surface streets would be involved at least at the beginning and end.

Tesla HQ to NYC contains only 2 miles of surface street.
Secondly it means nothing in the context of FSD cause Highway Autonomy isn't FSD

 

[Tam]

Tesla HQ to NYC contains only 2 miles of surface street...

Just a minor correction which won't alter your position on Tesla Autonomous Cross Country Trip but hopefully, due to better accuracy, your point might be viewed as more credible:

Tesla Headquarters is in Palo Alto, CA while the planned trip is from Los Angeles, CA:

“Our goal is — I feel pretty good about this goal — is that we’ll be able to do a demonstration drive of full autonomy, all the way from L.A. to New York — so, basically, from a home in L.A. to, let’s say, dropping you off in Times Square, in New York, then having the car go and park itself by the end of next year — without the need for a single touch, including the charging.”

In the past manual cross country trip, the official start line was Los Angeles City Hall and ended at New York City Hall.

Tesla has never mentioned Palo Alto, CA Tesla Headquarters in both manual and autonomous cross country talks.

 

[Saghost]

USA Autopilot fatality was on Florida highway.

Highways by definition don't have crossing left turns, or semis making them.