Volkswagen is talking with external partners about launching so-called digital mobility businesses, but is not in any negotiations with either Apple or Google, the carmaker's CEO said on Thursday, pointing to a different direction for its self-driving car efforts.
Several high-profile companies — Google, Ford, Uber, Lyft, and Volvo — have joined together in a new coalition, looking to persuade both the public and the U.S. government about the benefits of self-driving cars, with the particular goal of knocking down any legal barriers that might interfere.
Apple has picked up two more workers from the auto industry, both of whom are now believed to be at the company's "Product Realization Lab," where prototype hardware is developed.
Apple was said to be involved in negotiations with automakers BMW and Daimler, but discussions fell apart because the parties couldn't agree on who would own and protect the data associated with a connected, self-driving car.
Apple has reportedly recruited Tesla's former VP of Vehicle Engineering, Chris Porritt, to work on "special projects" at the company — possibly to replace Steve Zadesky, the one-time head of Apple's electric car project, codenamed Titan.
Adding to rampant rumor and speculation surrounding Apple's "Project Titan" automotive initiative, a new report claims the company is operating a secret car lab out of Germany's capital city tasked with imagining, and realizing, vehicles of the future.
As part of its highly speculative look at "Apple Car," Motor Trend invited AppleInsider to take part in a roundtable discussion to critique a collaborative concept design worked up in partnership with the ArtCenter College of Design.
For its latest June issue, long-running automotive serial Motor Trend threw a spotlight on rumors and speculation surrounding Apple's shadowy "Project Titan." To go along with its print coverage, which includes a well-studied "Apple Car" concept rendering, the magazine invited a panel of experts to discuss the broader implications of Apple's efforts, and AppleInsider was there.
A series of buildings in Sunnyvale, Calif., are ground zero for Apple's top secret "Project Titan" electric car project, and a new report reveals the codenames of some of the company's facilities in the area, including names like "Pegasus," "Aria," "Rhea" and "Corvinus."
Tesla on Thursday night unveiled the long-awaited Model 3, its first electric car to be priced for the general public instead of rich sports and luxury car buyers.
The FBI this week sent out a warning to car makers and owners, alerting them to potential security holes in automotive software, all while still pushing Apple to create a method to break into securely encrypted iPhones.
German automaker BMW is planning a major corporate changes going forward, in an effort to build "the most intelligent car" it can, sensing impending competition from Apple, Google and others in Silicon Valley.
Apple should collaborate with existing carmakers, tapping their experience, instead of trying to build its own car single-handedly, the CEO of Fiat Chrysler said at this week's Geneva International Motor Show.
Apple recently leased a 96,000-square-foot warehouse in Sunnyvale, Calif., last used by Pepsi as a bottling plant in a move that grows the company's presence in an area previously tied to work on Project Titan, colloquially known as the "Apple Car."
Though Google's automated vehicles have been involved in a handful of minor accidents on the road, those were all caused entirely by other, human drivers. But that changed with an accident in California earlier this month.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook was expectedly noncommittal when asked about the prospect of an Apple-built car in a new interview, but he did indicate that hiring efforts are not necessarily evidence that a project is a sure thing.
A year and a half ago, Apple received approval to build an "auto testing center" in the town of Sunnyvale, Calif., and the city manager's office even highlighted the project in a biweekly blog, though no one seemed to notice at the time [updated].
Apple's top-secret Sunnyvale, Calif., automotive testing facility has been the source of loud "motor noises" late at night that irked at least one nearby neighbor, AppleInsider has discovered.
The artificial intelligence in a self-driving vehicle can be treated as the "driver" from a legal standpoint, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a decision that could set an important precedent for Apple's own self-driving car.
Apple has placed a hiring freeze on the team responsible for the company's nascent automotive ambitions after executives became unhappy with the project's direction and progress, AppleInsider has learned.
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Roger Fingas
AppleInsider Staff
Mikey Campbell
Neil Hughes
Sam Oliver
