Tim Cook announces iPhone 11.
Source: Apple
Apple CEO Tim Cook has given an indication of the company’s work in autonomous vehicles, following recent reports that the company is in talks again to develop its own car.
“Autonomy itself is, in my opinion, a core technology. If you step back a little bit, the car is a robot in many ways. An autonomous car is a robot. And so there are many things you can do with it and we will see what Apple does, “Cook said in an interview with Kara Swisher on Monday on the” Sway “podcast.
“We investigate so many things internally. A lot of them never see the light. I’m not saying one would not do that,” Cook added.
Asked if Apple is working on a car itself or the technology in a car, Cook declined to comment.
“We love integrating hardware, software and services, and finding the crossroads of those, because we think that’s where the magic is. And so that’s what we want to do. And we like the primary owning technology around there, he said.
Apple has long been expected to enter the automotive business with its own vehicle or sell its technology to other automakers, and has made a number of moves to indicate that they plan to do so. The company is helping to strengthen its engineering ranks and in 2019 acquired the autonomous vehicle company Drive.ai.
An autonomous vehicle could position the company against Tesla, introducing its own self-driving features. In 2018, Apple hired Doug Field, then Tesla’s senior vice president of engineering, to presumably work on self-driving cars. Apple has also brought in several other former Tesla employees, including former Tesla vice president of engineering Michael Schwekutsch, now senior director of engineering for the Special Projects group at Apple.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk even said last year that he once tried to sell the business to Apple, but Cook did not want to take a meeting.
“You know, I’ve never talked to Elon before, although I have a lot of admiration and respect for the company he built. I think Tesla has done an incredible job of not only establishing the lead but also maintaining the lead for such a long period of time in the EV space. I really appreciate it, “Cook told Swisher.
Recently, CNBC reported that Apple was close to an agreement with Hyundai-Kia to manufacture an autonomous electric vehicle from Apple at the Kia assembly plant in West Point, Georgia. However, the car manufacturers later stepped back on the claims.
Listen to the full interview with Tim Cook here.
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