How much do self-driving engineers earn? The annual salary can easily reach millions, not counting stock options.

Text?|?James

Autonomous driving companies are definitely one of the most valuable investment targets in recent years.

Ford and General Motors spent US$1 billion (approximately 7 billion yuan) and US$580 million (approximately 4.06 billion yuan) to acquire Argo.ai and Cruise respectively. Google Waymo acquired the company for the first time in the first half of the year. Financing, it has received up to 3 billion US dollars (about 21 billion yuan).

So what kind of treatment will the wealthy autonomous driving companies, especially the top autonomous driving companies with the strongest technical strength, give when recruiting talents?

Recently, the foreign media Business Insider submitted non-U.S. data to the U.S. Department of Labor based on Argo AI, Aurora, Cruise, Waymo and Zoox (these five companies are considered to be the top autonomous driving companies in the United States). The employee salary data has published the salary levels of various R&D positions in these autonomous driving companies, allowing the outside world to have a general understanding of their labor salary levels.

According to foreign media reports, the minimum annual salary of R&D personnel of these autonomous driving companies is US$115,000 (approximately 805,000 yuan), and the highest annual salary is US$234,000 (approximately 1.638 million yuan). RMB).

According to the regulations of the U.S. Department of Labor, if a company in the United States hires non-American employees, it needs to submit the salary levels of non-American employees to the Department of Labor to ensure that the salary levels of these employees are not discriminated against. Lower than the industry average.

This means that the salary levels of these non-American employees submitted by these five companies at least represent the average level of the industry.

Before obtaining this part of the data, Business? Insider also asked relevant data from major autonomous driving companies. Waymo responded that American employees have rich experience and their salaries will be higher, and the submitted salary Bonuses and stock awards are not included.

The implication of Waymo’s words is obvious, that is, the company’s overall salary level is not only higher than the public data, but also higher. The leading companies in the autonomous driving industry are indeed very wealthy.

The following is an introduction to the salary situation of foreign employees of the five largest autonomous driving companies in the United States. All autonomous driving practitioners are also welcome to leave a message to reply to the salary levels of domestic companies.

1. Is Argo AI’s annual income of one million not a dream? Ford and Volkswagen have invested in it before

Argo AI is an autonomous driving start-up company headquartered in Pittsburgh, USA. In 2017, Ford Motor invested US$1 billion (approximately 7 billion yuan) in Argo? AI and became the largest shareholder of Argo? AI, which became Ford's autonomous driving subsidiary.

In June this year, Argo?AI announced that the Volkswagen Group’s investment of US$2.6 billion (approximately 18.2 billion yuan) in its project has been completed and will help Argo?AI deploy autonomous vehicles to Europe in the future. area.

Argo?AI's self-driving test vehicle

So, what is the annual salary of working in a company invested by international giants Ford and Volkswagen Group?

According to data previously submitted by Argo? AI to the U.S. Department of Labor, the annual salary of Argo? ), the annual salary of senior hardware engineers is US$162,000 to US$225,500 (approximately RMB 1.134 million to RMB 1.5785 million), and the annual salary of senior software engineers is US$175,500 to US$234,000 (approximately RMB 1.2285 million to RMB 1.638 million). RMB), the annual salary of a second-level software engineer is between US$135,000 and US$181,700 (approximately RMB945,000 and RMB1,271,900).

Working at Argo?AI, the lowest-paid R&D positions are the second-level hardware engineer and the second-level software engineer, with an annual salary of US$135,000 (approximately US$945,000), which is close to one million yuan, while other It is not a dream to earn one million per year in this position.

2. The founder of Aurora is from Google, Tesla and Uber? The software engineer salary difference is tens of thousands

The self-driving company Aurora was founded in early 2017. Its CEO Chris Urmson is The former CTO of Google's self-driving car project (named Waymo after the split) was an early founding member of Google's self-driving car project. After Sebastian Thrun, the founder of Google's self-driving cars, left in 2013, Chris Urmson took over his position and became the second boss of Google's self-driving cars.

Aurora’s self-driving test vehicle

In addition, Aurora also gathered former Tesla Autopilot project leader Sterling Anderson and founding member of Uber Advanced Technology R&D Center (Uber’s self-driving The project comes from the center) Drew Bagnell, two top experts in the autonomous driving circle.

According to the information submitted by Aurora, the salary level of a position was announced today. As a software engineer at Aurora, the annual salary is between US$123,100 and US$172,900 (approximately 861,700 yuan and 1.2103 million yuan). ).

3. GM Cruise already has an R&D team of 1,800 people. Senior technical product managers are very popular

The autonomous driving company Cruise was originally established in 2013. Its founder Kyle Vogt once worked for Audi. Developed assisted driving module. In 2016, General Motors acquired Cruise for a rumored sum of US$1 billion (approximately 7 billion yuan) (subsequent financial report disclosures proved that the acquisition cost US$580 million, approximately 4.06 billion yuan).

After seven years of development, in February this year, Cruise’s R&D team reached 1,800 people. In California, the United States, the hottest area for autonomous driving testing in the world, Cruise has deployed 227 vehicles. Being a R&D engineer at Cruise, the annual salary is not low.

Cruise’s self-driving test vehicle

Among them, engineering managers have the highest annual salary, reaching US$193,200 to US$231,100 (approximately RMB 1,352,400 to RMB 1,617,700).

Among senior positions, the annual salary of senior machine learning engineers ranges from US$143,600 to US$208,900 (approximately RMB 1,005,200 to RMB 1,462,300), and the annual salary of senior network engineers ranges from US$141,000 to US$198,600. time (approximately 987,000 yuan to 1.3902 million yuan), the annual salary of senior software engineers is between 166,500 US dollars and 208,800 US dollars (approximately 1.1655 million yuan - 1.4616 million yuan), and the annual salary of senior system test engineers is 140,100 US dollars. The annual salary of a senior technical product manager is between US$176,700 and US$215,000 (approximately 980,700 yuan and 1.2285 million yuan). The annual salary of a project manager ranges from US$161,900 to US$206,600 (approximately RMB 1,133,300 to RMB 1,446,200).

In general positions, the annual salary of software engineers ranges from US$119,100 to US$162,400 (approximately RMB 833,700 to RMB 1,136,800).

In fact, Cruise’s salary levels are very good. This is because Cruise publishes salaries for senior positions and rarely for lower-level positions.

It is worth noting that several self-driving companies have reported the salary levels of non-American employees to the U.S. Department of Labor, while almost all of Cruise’s non-U.S. employees hold senior positions. In other words, Cruise’s non-U.S. employees Among them, the proportion of senior positions/management positions is larger, while the proportion of lower-level positions is lower.

4. Waymo, the strongest company in the industry, has tried commercialization? No one can earn an annual salary of more than US$200,000.

When it comes to Waymo, almost everyone in the autonomous driving circle knows it. Waymo is not only a pioneer in autonomous driving research and development, but now it is also the global leader in autonomous driving research and development. When it was first established in 2009, Waymo had no official name and was only known to the outside world as Google's self-driving department.

In 2016, Google’s self-driving department was split from Google and became a subsidiary of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, independently of Google. At this time, Waymo "really has a name."

Later in 2018, Waymo provided Waymo One service in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, to promote the commercialization of driverless taxi services.

According to self-driving car road test data released by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (California? DMV) at the beginning of this year, Waymo’s 148 test vehicles drove an average of more than 13,200 miles (approximately 21,200 kilometers) in fully autonomous driving. ) requires manual intervention only once.

Waymo’s self-driving test vehicle

So, what is the annual salary of working at the world’s leader in self-driving research and development?

Among them, the annual salary of business analysts is US$117,000 (approximately RMB 819,000), software engineers are US$153,900 (approximately RMB 1.0773 million), and the annual salary of data scientists is US$149,000 ( (approximately RMB 1.043 million), the annual salary of hardware engineers is US$166,400 (approximately RMB 1.1648 million), and the annual salary of manufacturing engineers is between US$150,000 and US$156,000 (approximately RMB 1.05 million and RMB 1.092 million). , the mechanical engineer is US$140,000 (approximately 980,000 yuan), the product manager is US$170,200 (approximately 1.1914 million yuan), the project manager is US$165,700 (approximately 1.1599 million yuan), and the R&D scientist is 188,3 Ten thousand US dollars (approximately RMB 1.3181 million), system engineers are US$155,700 (approximately RMB 1.0899 million), technical project managers are US$186,600 (approximately RMB 1.3062 million), and test engineers are US$121,700 (approximately RMB 1.3062 million). (total RMB 851,900).

Waymo responded to this salary level. The salary data they submit to the U.S. Department of Labor only reflects the average salary of Waymo’s non-US employees, and does not reflect the company’s overall average salary. This is because Waymo’s non-US employees generally have less experience. In addition, the salary levels submitted this time do not include bonuses and equity awards for Waymo employees.

It can be seen that Waymo means that our overall average salary is higher than the data released this time, or even much higher.

Well, he is worthy of being the leader in autonomous driving. He really needs to spend money to attract talents.

5. Zoox has become a subsidiary of Amazon? Software engineers are very valued

Zoox was originally established in 2014. One of the founders is Australian art designer Tim Kentley- Klay, and the other is Jesse Levinson, the son of Arthur D. Levinson, chairman of the board of directors of Apple. After the two founded the company, they developed autonomous driving at Stanford University.

In June this year, Amazon spent US$1.2 billion (approximately 8.4 billion yuan) to acquire Zoox. Afterwards, Zoox’s self-driving research and development results may be used by Amazon in the field of e-commerce logistics.

Zoox’s self-driving test vehicle

In the salary report submitted by Zoox, the annual salary of electrical engineers ranges from US$115,000 to US$135,000 (approximately 805,000 yuan to 945,000 yuan) RMB), the annual salary of engineering managers ranges from US$171,700 to US$192,500 (approximately RMB 1,201,900 to RMB 1,347,500), and the annual salary of firmware engineers ranges from US$123,500 to US$152,300 (approximately RMB 864,500 to RMB 1,066,100). RMB), the annual salary of a mechanical engineer is US$124,100 to US$140,700 (approximately RMB 868,700 to RMB 984,900), and the annual salary of a senior software engineer is US$156,600 to US$203,300 (approximately RMB 1,096,200 to RMB 1,423,100) RMB), the annual salary of software engineers is between US$134,200 and US$165,000 (approximately RMB939,400 and RMB1,155,000).

Although the salary levels of various positions in Zoox are not much different, the salary of software engineers is always 20,000 to 30,000 US dollars (approximately 140,000 to 210,000 yuan) higher than other types of engineers. Zoox obviously pays more attention to software engineers.

6. The salary level of domestic autonomous driving companies is not low

Having said so much about the situation of overseas companies, what about the salary level of working in domestic autonomous driving companies? Chexixi searched the job information published by Pony.ai, Yuanrong Qixing, and AutoX on their official websites and major recruitment websites, and found that the salary for working in domestic autonomous driving companies is not low.

These companies have published recruitment information on the recruitment pages of their official websites. There are dozens of positions related to autonomous driving research and development, but none of them have announced their salary levels. You can only upload your resume to apply for the position. Salary and position information are posted on recruitment websites, but there may be fewer positions to apply for.

On a recruitment website, Pony.ai*** has 62 positions currently being recruited, including 56 technical positions, including software engineers, test engineers, algorithm engineers, R&D engineers and other positions.

The highest monthly salary for senior algorithm engineers can reach 60,000 yuan, and there is also a salary of 16,000 yuan, which is an annual salary of 960,000 yuan before tax. The salary of senior software engineers is slightly lower, but the maximum monthly salary is 50,000 yuan, which is 16 yuan, or 800,000 yuan in annual salary before tax.

If it is a lower rank, such as FPGA engineer or SLAM algorithm engineer, the monthly salary is between 15,000 and 40,000 yuan, and there may be a salary of 13 yuan. Calculated based on a monthly salary of 15,000 yuan and a salary of 12, the annual salary before tax is 180,000 yuan; calculated based on a monthly salary of 40,000 yuan and a salary of 13, the annual salary before tax is 520,000 yuan.

On another recruitment website, AutoX posted two positions in the Beijing area. Among them, the monthly salary of a React front-end development engineer for high-precision map direction and a C++ development engineer for the autonomous driving simulation platform is Between 20,000 and 40,000, that is, the annual salary before tax is between 240,000 and 480,000.

Yuanrong Qixing also posted dozens of autonomous driving development positions on a recruitment website. Among them, the maximum monthly salary for planning algorithm engineer, C++ software development engineer, SLAM algorithm engineer and software engineer is 30,000. Yuan or more, and it is possible to get a salary of 14 yuan, that is, the maximum annual salary before tax is more than 420,000 yuan.

The salary of software testing engineers is slightly lower, with a monthly salary between 10,000 and 15,000 yuan, and a salary of 12 yuan, and an annual salary before tax of 120,000 and 180,000 yuan.

It can be seen that the salary level of domestic autonomous driving companies is actually quite different from that of American companies. Basically, the top talents in senior positions in domestic autonomous driving companies have the same income as ordinary software engineers in the United States.

For example, the annual pre-tax salary of Pony.ai’s senior algorithm engineer in Beijing is 960,000 yuan, which is basically the same as the annual salary of lower-level software development engineers in Aurora.AI, Cruise and Zoox. The software development engineers of the three companies The minimum salaries of engineers are US$135,000 (approximately US$945,000), US$119,100 (approximately US$833,700), and US$134,200 (approximately US$939,400).

However, this is only the data seen on recruitment websites, and the actual pre-tax salary still depends on the job seeker and the company.

Conclusion: Autonomous driving companies are engaged in a silent competition

As countries around the world become more enthusiastic about autonomous driving R&D, whether major companies can attract talents in autonomous driving becomes a question of whether they can achieve success. The key to breakthrough progress in autonomous driving.

For large technology companies like Apple and Amazon, if they want to develop autonomous driving, investing in promising companies or directly acquiring them will allow them to obtain a lot of technology and patents. For start-up companies, it is even more necessary to attract R&D personnel with the company's culture, atmosphere and salary levels.

In fact, the salary levels of various autonomous driving companies are not very different. This also reflects that companies in the field of autonomous driving research and development are engaged in a silent competition.

This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.