June 27 (Reuters) - Tesla has hired former

Cruise executive, Henry Kuang, as the automaker's AI director,

according to a report by news website Electrek on Thursday, as

the company looks to expand robotaxi operations in the United

States.

Kuang was the head of autonomy at General Motors' ( GM )

self-driving unit, Cruise, till last year, according to his

LinkedIn profile.

His appointment comes at a time when Tesla has seen a series

of high-profile departures in the past year, including the

resignation of two senior executives on Thursday.

Tesla did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for

comment, while Kuang could not be reached.

While Kuang's role at Tesla is not clear, Ashok Elluswamy,

who was the first engineer hired for Tesla's Autopilot team in

2014, has largely been leading the company's self-driving

initiatives.

Omead Afshar, a top Tesla executive and longtime Elon Musk

confidant, left the electric-vehicle maker along with North

America HR Director Jenna Ferrua, sources familiar with the

matter told Reuters on Thursday.

Tesla is going through sweeping company-wide restructuring,

during which the electric vehicle maker has laid off thousands

of employees and shifted its strategic focus toward AI-driven

self-driving technology and robotics.

The company rolled out a small batch of its Model Y

robotaxis in Austin, Texas on June 22, ferrying paying

passengers in a small area of the city and CEO Elon Musk has

pledged to expand into several U.S. cities by next year.

Musk said last month Tesla will deliver its first car

autonomously from factory to customer in June.

General Motors ( GM ) said earlier this year that it had

completed the full acquisition of its Cruise business to focus

on developing the autonomous technology for personal vehicles,

not robotaxis.