Tesla Inc.’s appearing common counsel has left the electric-car maker for Luminar Applied sciences Inc., a laser-sensor startup that went public via reverse merger final yr.

Alan Prescott, who has been with Tesla for 4 years and have become its high authorized govt in December 2019, will likely be Luminar’s chief authorized officer, the corporate mentioned in an announcement. Previous to becoming a member of Tesla in 2017, Prescott was the senior counsel for the self-driving unit of Uber Applied sciences Inc.

Luminar, led by 26-year-old billionaire Austin Russell, has been recruiting high executives from the tech and automotive industries because it ramps up manufacturing of its laser sensors for mass manufacturing. Laser sensors, generally known as lidar, permit automobiles to “see” their environment, and are thought of a essential element of enabling extra superior self-driving options.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is an outlier within the self-driving group as a result of he’s growing a system utilizing cameras and radar, however no lidar.

Luminar, which has agreements to provide the sensors to Volvo Automotive AB and SAIC Motor Corp., China’s greatest automaker, has assembled an advisory council together with Dieter Zetsche, the previous CEO of Daimler AG, and Matt Simoncini, the previous CEO of Lear Corp., to assist it make inroads into the auto business.

Trey Campbell, vice chairman of investor relations at Intel Corp., has additionally joined Luminar in an analogous function, in response to the assertion.

Shares of Luminar prolonged beneficial properties after the transfer was introduced and have been up 15 % to $18.89 in mid-afternoon buying and selling in New York.