Fake Tesla Hire Sparks Industry Frenzy: LinkedIn Scam Fools Media Amid Autopilot Team Turmoil

A hiring rumor briefly shook the tech world today, suggesting Tesla had poached Henry Kuang, the former Head of Autonomy at GM’s defunct Cruise unit. According to reports, Kuang was joining Tesla as Director of AI and Deep Learning for Autonomous Driving—a major move in light of Tesla's ongoing leadership drain in its Autopilot division.

But within hours, Tesla’s Head of Autopilot and AI, Ashok Elluswamy, took to social media to debunk the story, calling it “fake news.” The confusion stemmed from a fraudulent LinkedIn profile created in Kuang’s name, which falsely listed Tesla as his new employer. The page has since been taken down.

The bizarre episode highlights the growing instability surrounding self-driving tech, particularly within Tesla and what remains of Cruise. Once a leader in the robotaxi race, Cruise collapsed after a string of safety failures, leaving top engineers like Kuang job hunting.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s Autopilot team has been bleeding talent. Key figures like Andrej Karpathy, Drew Baglino, David Lau, and Milan Kovac have exited in recent years. Most recently, senior executive Omead Afshar and HR head Jenna Ferrua also left, fueling speculation about internal unrest.

Tesla typically promotes internally rather than making bold outside hires, which made the false Kuang news especially striking. While ultimately a hoax, it revealed how sensitive and scrutinized Tesla’s self-driving efforts have become.