GM hires Sterling Anderson, self-driving truck co-founder, to lead product development
General Motors has hired another California-based tech expert to work in its Silicon Valley offices.
The Detroit automaker has tapped Sterling Anderson, co-founder of self-driving truck company Aurora and former lead on Tesla's Model X and Autopilot programs, to be its next chief product officer.
In a role created for him, Anderson will 'oversee GM's end-to-end product lifecycle, ensuring a cohesive strategy that integrates hardware, software and services' the company said in a statement. His first day will be June 2.
Anderson's role positions him above GM's key departments: battery, propulsion and sustainability; global manufacturing and product engineering, research and development; software and services product; and vehicle product programs, product safety, integration and motorsports. Kurt Kelty, Josh Tavel, Bariş Cetinok, and Ken Morris, who respectively lead each team, will report to Anderson.
'With decades of leadership in automotive engineering, tech start-ups and software innovation, Sterling is absolutely the right person to help us accelerate the pace of progress across the entire portfolio and to build vehicles with the design, performance, and technology that our customers want and expect,' GM President Mark Reuss said in the company statement.
Aurora's fully driverless service is operational in Texas, running commercial trucks regularly between Houston and Dallas, the company also said. Anderson holds a master's and Ph.D. in robotics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jackie Charniga covers General Motors for the Free Press. Reach her at jcharniga@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM taps Sterling Anderson, Aurora co-founder, as chief product officer
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TechCrunch
19 minutes ago
- TechCrunch
Snapchat adds new tools for building Bitmoji games
Snapchat is launching new Lens Studio tools that AR creators and developers can use to build Bitmoji games, the company told TechCrunch exclusively. The company is also releasing a Bitmoji Suite as well as new assets for games. With Lens Studio 5.10, the new games assets offer developers new ways to build dynamic games Lenses, the company said. We're getting a turn-based system to enable back-and-forth gameplay, as well as the ability to Snap and respond to a challenge or turn in the same game. There's also a new customizable Character Controller that supports different gameplay styles, including third-person, first-person, side-scroller, and top-down perspectives. The leaderboard has also been updated with new templates for start and end screens, a standardized and hybrid view of friends and global scores, and new friend-related metrics, like 'friends who have played.' The Bitmoji Suite brings new tools for personalizing and animating Bitmoji. Users can now design custom outfits for Bitmoji, generate stylized props, and animate them using Snap's library. Image Credits:Snap The company is also launching a new collection of single-player and turn-based Bitmoji Game Lenses that users can play and challenge friends in. The new Lenses include Bitmoji Bistro, Bitmoji Bucket, and Bitmoji Blast. Users can already play a number of game Lenses built by AR developers, but this is the first time Snap has introduced a collection of Bitmoji Game Lenses designed around challenging your friends. 'Lens Studio empowers our vibrant community of over 375,000 AR creators, developers, and teams to seamlessly build and publish Lenses, so we're excited to give them even more tools to create,' the company said in an email to TechCrunch. Techcrunch event Save now through June 4 for TechCrunch Sessions: AI Save $300 on your ticket to TC Sessions: AI—and get 50% off a second. Hear from leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic, Khosla Ventures, and more during a full day of expert insights, hands-on workshops, and high-impact networking. These low-rate deals disappear when the doors open on June 5. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW Snapchat also said that developers can register for a chance to win cash prizes for using Bitmoji Suite and Games assets with its Bitmojiverse Challenge.
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Newark mayor sues New Jersey's top federal prosecutor after arrest at immigration detention site
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Newark Mayor Ras Baraka sued New Jersey's top federal prosecutor on Tuesday over his arrest on a trespassing charge at a federal immigration detention facility, saying the Trump-appointed attorney had pursued the case out of political spite. Baraka, who leads New Jersey's biggest city, is a candidate in a crowded primary field for the Democratic nomination for governor next Tuesday. The lawsuit against interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba coincided with the day early in-person voting began. The lawsuit seeks damages for 'false arrest and malicious prosecution,' and also accuses Habba of defamation for comments she made about his case, which was later dropped. Citing a post on X in which Habba said Baraka 'committed trespass,' the lawsuit says Habba issued a 'defamatory statement' and authorized his 'false arrest' despite 'clear evidence that Mayor Baraka had not committed the petty offense of 'defiant trespass.'' The suit also names Ricky Patel, the Homeland Security Investigations agent in charge in Newark. 'This is not about revenge,' Baraka said during a news conference. 'Ultimately, it's about them taking accountability for what they did.' Emails seeking comment were left Tuesday with Habba's office and the Homeland Security Department, where Patel works. The episode outside the Delaney Hall federal immigration detention center has had dramatic fallout. It began on May 9 when Baraka tried to join three Democratic members of Congress — Rob Menendez, LaMonica McIver and Bonnie Watson Coleman — who went to the facility for an oversight tour, something authorized under federal law. Baraka, an outspoken critic of Trump's immigration crackdown and the detention center, was denied entry. Video from the event showed him walking from the facility side of the fence to the street side, where other people had been protesting, and then uniformed officials came to arrest him. As they did, people could be heard in the video saying to protect the mayor. The video shows a crowd forming and pushing as officials led off a handcuffed Baraka. He was initially charged with trespass, but Habba dropped that charge last month and charged McIver with two counts of assaulting officers stemming from her role in the skirmish at the facility's gate. U.S. Magistrate Judge Andre Espinosa rebuked Habba's office after moving to dismiss the charges. 'The hasty arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, followed swiftly by the dismissal of these trespassing charges a mere 13 days later, suggests a worrisome misstep by your Office,' he wrote. McIver decried the charges and signaled she plans to fight them. A preliminary hearing is scheduled later this month. Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed facility, opened earlier this year as a federal immigration detention facility. Florida-based Geo Group Inc., which owns and operates the property, was awarded a 15-year contract valued at $1 billion in February. The announcement was part of the president's plans to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year. Baraka sued Geo soon after that deal was announced. Then, on May 23, the Trump Justice Department filed a suit against Newark and three other New Jersey cities over their so-called sanctuary policies. There is no legal definition for sanctuary city policies, but they generally limit cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers. New Jersey's attorney general has a statewide directive in place prohibiting local police from collaborating in federal civil immigration matters. The policies are aimed at barring cooperation on civil enforcement matters, not at blocking cooperation on criminal matters. They specifically carve out exceptions for when Immigration and Customs Enforcement supplies police with a judicial criminal warrant. The Justice Department said, though, the cities won't notify ICE when they've made criminal arrests, according to the suit. It's unclear whether Baraka's role in these fights with the Trump administration is having an effect on his campaign for governor. He's one of six candidates seeking the Democratic nomination in the June 10 election to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. In a video ad in the election's final weeks, Baraka has embraced a theme his rivals are also pushing: affordability. He says he'll cut taxes. While some of the images show him standing in front of what appears to be Delaney Hall, he doesn't mention immigration or the arrest specifically, saying: 'I'll keep Trump out of your homes and out of your lives.' Trump has endorsed Jack Ciattarelli, one of several Republicans running in the gubernatorial primary. Ciattarelli has said if he's elected, his first executive order would be to end any sanctuary policies for immigrants in the country illegally. ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.
Boston Globe
32 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Newark mayor sues New Jersey's top federal prosecutor after arrest at immigration detention site
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Emails seeking comment were left Tuesday with Habba's office and the Homeland Security Department, where Patel works. Advertisement The episode outside the Delaney Hall federal immigration detention center has had dramatic fallout. It began on May 9 when Baraka tried to join three Democratic members of Congress — Rob Menendez, LaMonica McIver and Bonnie Watson Coleman — who went to the facility for an oversight tour, something authorized under federal law. Baraka, an outspoken critic of Trump's immigration crackdown and the detention center, was denied entry. Video from the event showed him walking from the facility side of the fence to the street side, where other people had been protesting, and then uniformed officials came to arrest him. As they did, people could be heard in the video saying to protect the mayor. The video shows a crowd forming and pushing as officials led off a handcuffed Baraka. Advertisement He was initially charged with trespass, but Habba dropped that charge and charged McIver with two counts of assaulting officers stemming from her role in the skirmish at the facility's gate. McIver decried the charges and signaled she plans to fight them. A preliminary hearing is scheduled later this month. Delaney Hall, a 1,000-bed facility, opened earlier this year as a federal immigration detention facility. Florida-based Geo Group Inc., which owns and operates the property, was awarded a 15-year contract valued at $1 billion in February. The announcement was part of the president's plans to sharply increase detention beds nationwide from a budget of about 41,000 beds this year. Baraka sued Geo soon after that deal was announced. Then, on May 23, the Trump Justice Department filed a suit against Newark and three other New Jersey cities over their so-called sanctuary policies. There is no legal definition for sanctuary city policies, but they generally limit cooperation by local law enforcement with federal immigration officers. New Jersey's attorney general has a statewide directive in place prohibiting local police from collaborating in federal civil immigration matters. The policies are aimed at barring cooperation on civil enforcement matters, not at blocking cooperation on criminal matters. They specifically carve out exceptions for when Immigration and Customs Enforcement supplies police with a judicial criminal warrant. The Justice Department said, though, the cities won't notify ICE when they've made criminal arrests, according to the suit. It's unclear whether Baraka's role in these fights with the Trump administration is having an effect on his campaign for governor. He's one of six candidates seeking the Democratic nomination in the June 10 election to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. Advertisement In a video ad in the election's final weeks, Baraka has embraced a theme his rivals are also pushing: affordability. He says he'll cut taxes. While some of the images show him standing in front of what appears to be Delaney Hall, he doesn't mention immigration or the arrest specifically, saying: 'I'll keep Trump out of your homes and out of your lives.' Trump has endorsed Jack Ciattarelli, one of several Republicans running in the gubernatorial primary. Ciattarelli has said if he's elected, his first executive order would be to end any sanctuary policies for immigrants in the country illegally.
