Report: Apple Poaches Top Tesla Exec

Apple has reportedly snagged a top Tesla executive for its rumored "Project Titan" electric car venture.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Jamie Carlson left the high-tech vehicle maker in July for a position on Apple's "Special Projects" team.

Reuters first spotted the job change last week, saying that Carlson—a former Tesla Motors Autopilot Firmware Manager—this month joined Cupertino's effort to crack automated driving.

In February, reports said "several hundred" Apple employees were working on an electric car, known internally as "Titan." Few details have been revealed, and Apple, like most tech companies, often experiments with technologies it never brings to market.

But news of Carlson's new position has fanned the flames; at least six others with experience developing self-driving technology have taken jobs in Cupertino, according to Reuters. That includes workers from Mercedes-Benz (below), as well as Volkswagen, Nvidia's driver-assist team, and Carnegie Mellon University, which has done a lot of work on self-driving cars, The Daily Mail said.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment; Tesla did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.

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Tesla Motors reportedly goes Apple picking on a regular basis and had poached at least 150 former Apple employees as of February. As far back as 2010, however, it hired George Blankenship to head Tesla's showroom design and sales efforts; he left in 2013. Two years ago, Doug Field also ditched his position leading Apple's Mac Hardware Engineering team for a spot as Tesla's vice president of vehicle programs. Cupertino fought back, reportedly offering $250,000 signing bonuses and 60 percent salary increases to Tesla employees who join Apple.

That is totally a legit current job title and not covering for anything Apple is working on secretly nosiree pic.twitter.com/SGXFyypkqH

— Aubrey Cottle (@Kirtaner) August 21, 2015

Editor's Note: This story was updated on Aug. 25 with a response from Apple.