Apple’s self-driving car plan

APPLE has revealed it is investing heavily in autonomous vehicles in a letter asking the government to make it easier to develop self-driving cars.

The company is “excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation”, Apple said in a November 22 letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration offering its opinion about draft regulations for the sector.

“Apple looks forward to collaborating with NHTSA and other stakeholders so that the significant societal benefits of automated vehicles can be realized safely, responsibly, and expeditiously,” the company’s director of product integrity Steve Kenner wrote.

Apple issued the letter because it is “investing heavily in machine learning and autonomous systems”, an Apple spokesman said.

Rumours about Apple’s ambitions in the sector have circulated for years.

The company has a separate organisation called “Project Titan” that is developing automotive projects.

Although Apple has never officially confirmed the project, CEO Tim Cook’s comments have fuelled speculation.

After a $1 billion investment in a Chinese ride-hailing service called Didi Chuxing, he spoke of “some strategic things that the companies can do together over time”.

However, in early September, the New York Times reported that the group had narrowed its ambitions, laying off dozens of staff as part of the project’s “reboot”.

Instead of designing and producing a complete selfdriving car, the group will now concentrate on developing underlying technologies for autonomous vehicles.

Apple urged the NHTSA not to penalise new participants in the sector.