Apple is building a self-driving car in Silicon Valley, and is scouting for secure locations in the San Francisco Bay area to test it, the Guardian has learned. Documents show the oft-rumoured Apple car project appears to be further along than many suspected.
In May, engineers from Apple’s secretive Special Project group met with officials from GoMentum Station, a 2,100-acre former naval base near San Francisco that is being turned into a high-security testing ground for autonomous vehicles.
In correspondence obtained by the Guardian under a public records act request, Apple engineer Frank Fearon wrote: “We would ... like to get an understanding of timing and availability for the space, and how we would need to coordinate around other parties who would be using [it].”
Automobile manufacturing is a radical departure from Apple's core business. Can they pull it off?
(Score: 1) by Murdoc on Saturday August 15 2015, @11:36PM
At first I couldn't imagine what would get Apple to want to venture that far out of their product zone, but then something occurred to me: Siri was originally an AI (not strong) project by DARPA, right? It was later developed into a smartphone app by whatever company Apple then bought. What if Apple found a way to apply the AI to another purpose, something that was touched on by DARPA but not followed up on for some reason? What if that something was vehicle piloting? That could explain this. Just an idea. If so, what other application spin-offs might they have bought? How many other areas of our lives is Apple going to try to invade?