Is Apple working on an autonomous electric car?

Story at a glance

• Over the years, the tech giant has been expected to jump into the car business with its own branded vehicle or with its own technology for other car manufacturers.
• “Autonomy itself is a core technology, in my view. If you sort of step back, the car, in a lot of ways, is a robot. An autonomous car is a robot. And so there’s lots of things you do with autonomy. And we’ll see what Apple does,” Cook said.
• “We investigate so many things internally. Many of them never see the light of day. I’m not saying that one will not,” Cook added.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has dropped some new hints about what the company is working on in relation to autonomous vehicles.

Over the years, the tech giant has been expected to jump into the car business with its own branded vehicle or with its own technology for other car manufacturers.

In 2014, the company kicked off its automotive efforts with Project Titan, a project reportedly aimed at designing its own vehicle from scratch. In the last several years, the project has experienced several setbacks and layoffs, prompting rumors Apple shelved plans for a car.

During an interview Monday, Cook declined to answer outright if Apple is planning to produce its own car or the tech within the car, but did offer some clues.

“Autonomy itself is a core technology, in my view. If you sort of step back, the car, in a lot of ways, is a robot. An autonomous car is a robot. And so there’s lots of things you do with autonomy. And we’ll see what Apple does,” Cook said during an interview with Kara Swisher on the “Sway” podcast Monday.

“We investigate so many things internally. Many of them never see the light of day. I’m not saying that one will not,” Cook said.

“We love to integrate hardware, software, and services, and find the intersection points of those because we think that’s where the magic occurs. And so that’s what we love to do. And we love to own the primary technology that’s around that,” he added.

A December report from Reuters said Apple is in fact moving forward with self-driving car technology and could produce a passenger vehicle as early as 2024, although production could be pushed to 2025 due to the pandemic.

CNBC also recently reported Apple was near finalizing a deal with Hyundai-Kia to manufacture an Apple branded autonomous electric vehicle, although automakers have walked back those claims.

Source: thehill.com