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Google hires the lead for Tesla's semi-autonomous driving tech

Google has hired Robert Rose, who led Tesla's Autopilot team.

Apple and Tesla aren't the only two tech companies grabbing each other's staff to fulfill their automotive dreams -- Google has quietly hired Robert Rose, the lead for Tesla's semi-autonomous Autopilot program. It's not clear what he's working on besides software at Google Robotics, but it won't be surprising if he's working on self-driving cars. He's unlikely to be working for Boston Dynamics, whose staff are relatively independent from the Google mothership. One thing's for sure: Tesla will notice his absence. Rose was the lead engineer for some of SpaceX's earlier rocketry and reported directly to Elon Musk while at Tesla, so this clearly wasn't a trivial move.

[Image credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images]