Google executive departs self-driving car project

Chris Urmson, Director of the Self Driving Cars Project at Google, speaks to the media during a preview of Google’s prototype autonomous vehicles in Mountain View, California September 29, 2015.
Reuters/Elijah Nouvelage/File Photo






n" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Chris Urmson, an executive who was instrumental in building Google’s self-driving car project, said on Friday he is leaving the team after seven and a half years.


Alphabet Inc’s Google had named Urmson chief technical officer of the self-driving car project after it hired former Hyundai executive John Krafcik to be chief executive of the project.


Krafcik confirmed Urmson’s departure in a tweet on Friday afternoon.



Urmson, in a blog post late Friday, said he was “ready for a fresh challenge.”