LOS ANGELES (Bloomberg) — Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has turned to Twitter Inc. to further his goal of developing self-driving cars by posting a “help wanted” ad on the social media site.
Musk, who told Bloomberg in May that Tesla would eventually develop its own “autopilot” technology for cars, wrote in a post on Twitter Wednesday that the Palo Alto, Calif.-based maker of electric cars is serious about developing such a system.
“Intense effort under way at Tesla to develop a practical autopilot system for Model S,” said Musk, 42. “Engineers interested in working on autonomous driving, pls email autopilot@teslamotors.com. Team will report directly to me.”
Tesla, which has seen its market value top $20 billion this year, is intent on becoming the world’s most profitable seller of battery-powered autos, using technology designed in-house.
The company plans this year to deliver 21,000 of its flagship Model S sedans, priced from about $70,000, and double that volume next year as sales in Europe and Asia expand.
Google Inc. in recent years has drawn attention for its efforts to develop a self-driving car, and Nissan Motor Co. said last month it would sell so-called autonomous cars by 2020.
