Electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc has hired a key Apple Inc software engineer to oversee its Autopilot self-driving software efforts, Tesla said in a blog post Tuesday.Chris Lattner, who served at Apple for more than a decade, said in a online message to Apple developers that he would "leave Apple later this month to pursue an opportunity in another space" without saying which company he planned to join. Later in the day, Tesla posted a message on the company's website saying that Lattner had been hired as vice president of Autopilot software but did not say when he would start work there.The move is a significant win for Tesla, bringing a high-profile figure in the world of software development for a position that previously did not have a full-time leader. Tesla's Autopilot was overseen on an interim basis by the software chief Jinnah Hosein of SpaceX, which is also headed by Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk.