Apple has obtained a permit to test their very own self-driving cars, The iPhone maker is now in direct competition with Google, Uber and others. according to an updated roster released on Friday by California state officials.
The iPhone maker has disclosed little about its ambitions when it comes to self-driving vehicles, with chief Tim Cook hinting at plans but the company declining to comment on news reports on long-idling rumours.
But Late last year, Apple revealed that “it is investing heavily in autonomous vehicles in a letter asking the government to make it easier to develop self-driving cars.”
Apple issued the letter because it is “investing heavily in machine learning and autonomous systems,” an Apple spokesman said in an email to AFP at that time.
The California-based tech giant is expected to focus on software systems, letting partners manufacture vehicles, but would understandably want to be able to test its navigation technology in cars.
Most major auto manufacturers and many technology groups are currently developing autonomous(self-driving) vehicles, considered to be the future of automobile, along with electric power, with first production models promised for around 2020.
—phys
