To be or to not to be. Apple’s self-driving cars are a huge secret. At one moment , it seems like the company is going full steam into the field and at the next, it comes up and denies everything. Well, the company has just submitted a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in which it sent out some pretty strong hints that it might be working on self-driving tech.
So this letter does not come out of the blue. Apple is basically submitting its feedback on the federal government’s automated vehicle guidelines. Others who have commented on these policies include companies like Google and Ford — all of whom are working on autonomous cars. So if the fact that Apple has also sent its feedback the government’s way does not suggest that the company is actually employed in building self-driving tech — I don’t know what does.
And, guess who has signed Apple’s letter? Why, it is Steven Kenner, who now heads product integrity at Apple and who until very lately, was the global director of automotive safety at Ford.
Meanwhile, while Apple has never officially acknowledged “Project Titan”, it probably exists — although it has been going through a tough patch of late. We recently got reports that several hundred members of the 1,000-strong team working at Titan have been reassigned or let go. These reports came amidst rumors that Apple had actually given up manufacturing ambitions and was instead focusing upon making the software.
So, the company could parcel off the software to manufacturers who would then be able to integrate it into their cars and get them to drive automatically.
The Tim Cook led company is also much cooler with sharing safety specifications and other data with the government — opposed to most other companies working in the niche.
Apple agrees that companies should share de-identified scenario and dynamics data from crashes and near-misses. By sharing data, the industry will build a more comprehensive dataset than any one company could create alone.
Well, that is certainly a first. Apple agreeing to and even encouraging sharing? What has the world gotten to. The company is notorious for being secretive and close handed with its data, its technology and basically anything related to someone that has a half eaten apple on it.
Well, the Cupertino giant would be unlikely to take this much of an interest unless it was actively involved in self-driving tech. Add to its the company’s recent investment in China’s Didi (Which will give it access to tons of driving data) and yeah, the company is probably tinkering away at at least the software for self-driving cars.
It also makes you wonder, were rumors of the hundreds of people let go from Project Titan were just rumors — perhaps aided by Apple itself to maintain the facade? Everyone know that Apple loves being all secretive. What do you think folks?
[Source:-THE TECH PORTAL]
