Tesla’s chief executive for Autopilot is leaving

Andrej Karpathy, one of the leaders of the Autopilot division at Tesla, is leaving. Karpathy had been out of work since March. His departure follows shortly after a round of layoffs at the division that focuses on autonomous driving, although there seems to be no connection.

Karpathy has no idea what he’s going to do next, he says. Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded to his post with a tweet that it was “an honor to work with you.” It is unknown why Karpathy is leaving. He calls it “a difficult decision.” He worked for the car manufacturer for five years.

The announcement comes shortly after a round of layoffs at his division, says Bloomberg. Karpathy had been out of work since March due to a sabbatical, but was due to return to the company this month. That no longer happens now.

In addition to Karpathy, Ashok Elluswamy and Milan Kovac also lead the division, which is working on autonomous driving features at the automaker. It’s unknown if Karpathy’s departure and layoffs affect upcoming features Tesla was working on for Autopilot.