Apple CEO Tim Cook has just confirmed that the company is working on self-driving car software, following years of rumors that the Cupertino iPhone maker is building an autonomous vehicle.
"We see it as the mother of all AI projects. Autonomy is something that is extremely exciting for us, but we'll see where it takes us. We're not really saying from a product perspective what we're going to do, but we're clear that it's a core technology that we think is very important," Tim Cook said in an interview with Bloomberg.
While Tim Cook's statement confirms Apple's interest in self-driving cars, it also sets things straight on how the tech company is looking to expand into the automotive market.
Previously, it was believed that Apple wanted to build a complete car that would feature its logo, but the focus has since shifted to a more feasible project that only concerns the software side of such a vehicle.
Apple already has the know-how to develop software that could power a driverless car, and using the company's latest investments in AI, it could continue developing more advanced technology that would eventually make its way into a vehicle built by an undisclosed automotive partner.
Apple's efforts to expand into the automotive industry have already been linked to several car manufacturers, but so far there has been no clear indication of a potential partnership with a car manufacturer.
The first time Apple's potential investment in a car-related project made the rounds was in 2014, when people familiar with the matter pointed to internal work called Project Titan, the ultimate goal of which was to bring an Apple car to market.
Additionally, Apple hired a team of more than 1,000 engineers and automotive experts from leading manufacturers in Germany and other European countries to work on its project, but more recently, the company dismantled the team to shift its focus to software.
Surprisingly, Apple still believed it was competing with Tesla, but the focus has now shifted to a project that makes more sense in the long term and which should be finalized by 2021.
Specifics are not available at this point, but Apple recently received permission to test self-driving cars in California, which could be an indication that the project has already reached an advanced stage.
