Apple appeared to be overstretch back from the autonomous car line when itdismissed some 200 employeesfrom its Project Titan initiative in January 2019 . But it would come out that it ’s stir gears in a big direction with news on Tuesday that it has take startup Drive.ai “ in what appear to be part of a reincarnate effort by the iPhone and Mac shaper to ramify out into ego - driving cars , ” per theSan Francisco Chronicle .
According to the Chronicle , Drive.ai hadrecently differentiate land officialsit was folding and ask to lie off 90 workers by Friday . But Apple has poached “ dozens of hardware and software package engineers ” from the troupe and has now confirmed it buy it outright , according to the paper . Prior cover in the Information has propose the company had been look for likely buyerssince February 2019and that the purchaseis an “ acqui - hire,”meaning that Apple was primarily concerned in snap up Drive.ai ’s natural endowment before a competitor had the chance .
The Chronicle note that Drive.ai touted itself as a company modernise kits to convert normal cars into autonomous ones , “ though it ’s not clear how many of its partnership turned into reality . ” Projects it had engaged in include a shuttle inspection and repair in Arlington , Texas , a since - reason trial in Frisco , and a partnership with Lyft in 2017 that currently has an “ unclear ” status , ” the composition wrote . That Frisco trial raised some brow when Drive.ai adjudicate toremove human safety driversfrom some of its vehicle , just months after an Uber prototype vehiclestruck and killed49 - yr - old charwoman Elaine Herzberg in Tempe , Arizona .
Photo: Tony Gutierrez (AP)
Axios reportedthat Drive.ai was esteem at some $ 200 million two years ago , but Apple probably paid less than the $ 77 million it had raised in speculation majuscule , making the venture a last loss to investors . Apple has test ego - driving Lexus vehicles in California but has n’t publicly clear up whether it is focalize on building its own Apple - branded machine or software growing . harmonise to MacRumors , “ dependable Apple analyst ” Ming - Chi Kuo believes that if the company is working on such a vehicle , it would n’t be ready until 2023 or 2025 — far behind some of the wildly affirmative projections from competitor like Tesla , whose chief executive officer Elon Muskrecently claimedthat it will accomplish trueLevel 5autonomy by next yr .
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