--- title: "Head of Tesla’s Self-Driving Abruptly Leaves Company as Efforts Sputter" description: "Andrej Karpathy, the head of Tesla's AI department, has left the company, in a high profile departure from a department that oversees the company's controversial Autopilot driving assistance feature." date: "2022-07-14" modified: "2022-07-14" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/head-of-tesla-self-driving-leaves-company" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Self-Driving Vehicles" - "Tesla" tags: - "autopilot" - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Head of Tesla’s Self-Driving Abruptly Leaves Company as Efforts Sputter ![Andrej Karpathy, the head of Tesla's AI department, has left the company, in a high profile departure from a department that oversees the company's controversial Autopilot driving assistance feature.]() *\Image: Tesla/Futurism\* ## Major Departure Andrej Karpathy, the head of Tesla's AI department, has left the company, in a high profile departure from a department that oversees the company's controversial Autopilot driving assistance feature. The news also comes on the heels of major layoffs for the company, with Musk announcing [ten percent of Tesla employees]() would be laid off last month because he had a "super bad feeling" about the economy — including [mass layoffs at the company's self-driving division](). "It’s been a great pleasure to help Tesla towards its goals over the last five years and a difficult decision to part ways," Karpathy [tweeted]() of his exit. "In that time, Autopilot graduated from lane keeping to city streets and I look forward to seeing the exceptionally strong Autopilot team continue that momentum." The egress sounds abrupt, though. "I have no concrete plans for what’s next but look to spend more time revisiting my long-term passions around technical work in AI, open source and education," Karpathy wrote in [a follow-up](). ## Restructuring Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk took the time to thank Karpathy for his contributions. "Thanks for everything you have done for Tesla!" the billionaire [tweeted](). "It has been an honor working with you." The news also comes after over 200 people were let go from the company's office in San Mateo, California, last month. The employees were tasked with training the company's Autopilot system by labeling videos taken by Tesla cameras on the road, [according to *CNBC*](). While Autopilot certainly has come a long way, the company's overall progress toward self-driving tech — especially the misleadingly named "Full Self-Driving" add-on — has gotten increasingly skeptical attention from regulators, particularly [following numerous fatal collisions]() that reportedly involved the driving assistance tech. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revealed in May that is investigating [at least 35 collisions]() involving Teslas that had Autopilot turned on. While we have yet to hear why Karpathy was let go, it wouldn't exactly be be a stretch to suggest it may have something to do with the major restructuring going on at Tesla right now. But it could very well be an indication that the company's efforts to bring its "self-driving" technologies to public roads are proving to be anything but smooth sailing. **READ MORE:** [Tesla AI leader Andrej Karpathy announces he’s leaving the company]() \[*CNBC*\] **More on Autopilot:** *[Tesla Fires 200 People Working on Its Unfinished Self-Driving Software]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()