Apple has reportedly appointed a new executive to lead the development of its secretive self-driving car division. According to Bloomberg, the company has tapped Kevin Lynch to oversee Project Titan following the departure of executive Doug Field, who left the iPhone maker for Ford earlier this week. 

The name may not be familiar, but if you’ve watched any Apple event in recent years, you’ve seen Lynch on stage. After a stint at Adobe, he joined Apple in 2013 to oversee the company’s wearable and health unit and has frequently been the one to present whatever new features Apple is working on for watchOS. 

Bloomberg reports Lynch joined the division earlier in the year but is now overseeing the entire unit. The outlet notes Lynch’s appointment suggests Apple is likely focusing on underlying software that a self-driving car would need to navigate the road, instead of a vehicle that we could see the company release anytime soon.

Add another wrinkle to Apple’s oft-rumored efforts to build its own electric vehicle. On Tuesday, Ford announced the hire of Doug Field. The former Tesla executive, known for his involvement in the development of the Model 3, most recently held the position of vice president of special projects at Apple. It’s believed Field oversaw Project Titan.

In his new position of chief advanced technology and embedded systems officer, Field will report to Ford CEO and president Jim Farley. He will oversee Ford’s Embedded Software and Hardware division, which will see him lead development on the automaker’s Blue Oval intelligence stack. It’s expected he will have a say in everything from vehicle controls to enterprise connectivity features and driver assistance technology. For Field, this is something of a return to where everything started. He began his career at Ford back in 1987.

What’s unclear is what this means for Apple’s automotive ambitions. Bloomberg reporter and Apple insider Mark Gurman says it’s bad news for the company. “This is probably the largest setback in a history filled with setbacks for Apple’s car project,” he tweeted. “As I wrote in January, there is no Apple Car launching anytime soon, not 2024, not 2025. Further out now, if ever.” Apple does have executives who could take over Field’s role. For instance, the company recently hired Ulrich Kranz, a former BMW executive who led the development of the i3. All the same, it's never a good sign when a high-profile executive leaves a company. 

Netflix has hired N'Jeri Eaton, the former head of content for Apple Podcasts, to head up its own podcast operations. According to Variety, she's the first person to lead Netflix's podcast programming, indicating the streaming service's growing commitment to audio content. Netflix has long been releasing companion talk shows for its original movies and TV series, including ones for The Crown, The Witcher and Stranger Things. Eaton will now oversee those companion audio shows, as well as any original ones the company produces.

The new executive will be part of the company's editorial and publishing team, which will be under the leadership of Michelle Lee, the former editor-in-chief of Allure. Both Lee and Eaton will join the streaming service later this month. As Bloomberg notes, Netflix is expanding its editorial and publishing division as a whole and has been growing its stable of journalists. Eaton and Lee will report to Netflix CMO Bozoma Saint John, who also used to be an Apple executive. 

Prior to joining Apple in August 2020, Eaton worked at NPR for four years, where she acquired new talent, content and partnerships. She announced her departure from Apple in a tweet on July 2nd and more recently confirmed that she's joining Netflix as Head of Podcasts.

Instacart has hired a top Facebook executive as its next CEO. Fidji Simo will take over the delivery service's top job on August 2nd, replacing founder Apoorva Mehta, who is moving into the executive chairman role. Simo joined Instacart's board in January.

Simo has worked at Facebook for a decade. She moved up through the ranks to become head of the Facebook app in 2019. She helped video to become a key part of Facebook through her work on Facebook Live and Watch, as well as News Feed videos that autoplay. Simo previously worked on local commerce and classified ads at eBay.

Although many businesses struggled amid the impact of COVID-19, it was a boom time for Instacart as people turned to delivery apps in droves to order groceries. The company hired hundreds of thousands of shoppers to fill orders in the early days of the pandemic, though workers went on strike over a lack of safety equipment. Reports suggest Instacart is looking to go public, perhaps later this year.