Dive Brief:
- General Motors’ first-ever chief AI officer Barak Turovsky departed the automaker after just eight months in the role, a company spokesperson confirmed in an email to WardsAuto.
- At the time of his hiring in March, GM said Turovsky would help guide the company in setting its AI vision and strategy.
- “I just wanted to share that as of today I am no longer with GM,” Turovsky posted on LinkedIn. “Physical AI is just as exciting as LLMs (large language models) and it was a genuine pleasure to work again with brilliant folks like John Anderson (GM’s Head of AI Research), Davey Weissberg (GM’s Director of AI Product & Strategy), John Richardson (Distinguished Engineer at GM) and many others.”
Dive Insight:
Turovsky had reported to Dave Richardson, GM’s former SVP of software and services engineering, who stepped down on Oct. 31 as part of a broader restructuring of GM’s technology divisions.
“We are strategically integrating AI capabilities directly into our business and product organizations, enabling faster innovation and more targeted solutions,” a GM spokesperson said in an email to WardsAuto.
The spokesperson said that the automaker’s AI team will report to its manufacturing engineering organization as the company continues to build out its AI capabilities.
GM’s technology leadership shakeup comes as the automaker works to launch new software-defined vehicle platforms and deliver new AI-powered connected services and other in-vehicle technology to customers.
Shortly after Tuovsky was hired by GM in March, the automaker announced it was expanding its partnership with chipmaker Nvidia to deploy AI-powered technology in its next-generation vehicles, as well as across its manufacturing facilities.
As GM restructures its software and services units, the company, as well as other OEMs, are turning to the tech industry for help in integrating advanced technology into their vehicles, which are becoming more like smartphones on wheels. GM’s more recent executive appointments include former employees of Google, Apple, Microsoft and Tesla.
The company’s current head of AI research, John Anderson, joined the automaker in July after working as a research scientist at Google for over 14 years, according to LinkedIn.
On Nov. 4, GM announced the appointment of former Tesla executive Sterling Anderson to lead its software and services unit. Anderson joined the automaker in June as its new global chief product officer, overseeing the automaker’s entire end-to-end product lifecycle, including vehicle hardware, software, connected services and user experience. He took over the former role of Richardson.
GM also hired Ed Nightingale, former VP of Microsoft Research, this month as VP of digital products and infrastructure, according to a post on LinkedIn. His responsibilities include leading the automaker’s engineering teams to deliver new software backed by a high-performance compute platform.
