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Some changes are afoot over at Google's self-driving car division. Its CTO and technical lead, Chris Urmson, is officially departing the project in addition to a few other key staffers. First, Urmson: he recently wrote a lengthy blog post on Medium yesterday to explain his move.

"After leading our cars through the human equivalent of 150 years of driving and helping our project make the leap from pure research to developing a product that we hope someday anyone will be able to use, I am ready for a fresh challenge," Urmson wrote.

"It has been a tremendous privilege and honor to be part of a team that has been at the forefront of bringing this life-saving technology to the world. I feel lucky to have played a role in building this team from a handful of people into the world-class team it is today, readying self-driving cars that will soon take you from A to B at the push of a button. If I can find another project that turns into an obsession and becomes something more, I will consider myself twice lucky."

The two other big names departing Google's vehicular project are Jiajun Zhu, one the project's top software engineers and one of its founding members—as Recode reported—as well as Dave Ferguson, another top software engineer. The The New York Times reports that both are heading out to launch an undisclosed startup.

Google confirmed Urmson's departure in a statement, but didn't mention anything about the other two.

"Seven years ago, the idea that a car could drive itself wasn't much more than an idea. Chris has been a vital force for the project, helping the team move from a research phase to a point where this lifesaving technology will soon become a reality. He departs with our warmest wishes," reads a statement from an Alphabet spokesperson. Google's self-driving car project is one of the pet projects of X, the research arm of Alphabet.

According to the Times, Urmson had disagreed with the direction of the car project, and he made those concerns known to Alphabet CEO Larry Page and car project CEO John Krafcik a number of months ago. (Krafcik just joined the project last year after Google hired him away from Hyundai America.) However, according to Urmson, these disagreements were not the reason for his decision to leave the project.

"I have every confidence that the mission is in capable hands. There are many other problems or products this talented group of people could work on, but they've chosen self-driving cars because they understand the impact their work can have on making our roads safer and bringing everyday destinations within reach for millions of people. I will be cheering along and following their progress," he wrote.