Since it arrived Elon MuskTwitter has lost more than two-thirds of its employees, which they went from 7,500 to 2,300. But after the latest round of resignations following Musk’s ultimatum, it seems the company is intent on stop the escape of engineers. Indeed, Elon Musk has begun to hire new personnel for Twitter: indeed, he arrives George “GeoHot” Hotz, hacker and security expert who has developed a self-driving system that competes with Tesla’s AutoPilot.
Twitter hires hacker George “GeoHot” Hotz, rival of Elon Musk
Hotz began his career as a hacker at a very young age, with two projects that had an important media impact. First the iphone jailbreak, on multiple versions of iOS, and then reverse engineering the PlayStation 3. Once he proved his skills in software, he founded Comma.ai, a startup that deals with the development of assisted and autonomous driving systems. A rival to Tesl’s AutoPilota, which it sells to other automakers.
In the past, Musk himself had sought to bring the IT talent to his own electric car company. But Hotz explained that he gave up in 2015 “because Musk kept changing the terms” of the deal. Tesla, like a fox with grapes, had said that he didn’t need to have the developer with him or acquire the startup: he had no chance of developing an AutoPilot rival. Comma.ai instead now sells driver assistance systems for $1,999 for more than 200 vehicle models and is beginning to develop a product for consumers.
A new challenge for GeoHot (and a chance for Musk?)
Things are going well at Comma.ai, but the 33-year-old hacker wants a new challenge. “I’m good in times of war. Not so much at cruising speed, like: ok, let’s grow the business patiently”. So when Musk signed his own ultimatum to employees (which saw many leave Twitter), Hotz saw it as a challenge.
Ha tweeted: “I want to put the money where my mouth is. I’m fine with 12 weeks of Twitter internship for the cost of living in San Franciscor. It’s not to accumulate capital in a dead world, it’s to make this world alive.”
Musk replied: “Sure, let’s talk.”
Hotz has therefore accepted Musk’s offer and is flying to San Francisco, where he promises to work hard and “get rid of that unforgivable login popup that appears after a while of scrolling. Ugh, this stuff ruins the internet.”
End of layoffs, Twitter aims to add talent
This hiring is particularly notable for Hotz’s past, especially as the founder of a rival startup to Tesla. But it seems Musk held a meeting where he explained what he wants stop the exodus of employees e hire talent at Twitter.
According to The Verge it is hiring directly for engineering and sales roles, asking employees if they have references. The hiring of Hotz could convince other experts to join the company and return to investing in talent, instead of focusing on systematic personnel cuts. But everything remains to be seen: if one thing is certain after the first few weeks of Musk’s management, it is that Twitter changes its mind much faster than before.