While everyone sort of knew that Apple was in the autonomous car game, it was never really official, as Apple had been quite secretive about its “Project Titan”. When asked about it, Apple CEO Tim Cook would always give sort of false truths and half answers, hiding what the Silicon Valley brand was really up to. However, Cook has now officially acknowledged the existence of such a project. But it isn’t exactly an autonomous car, as previously reported.

“We’re focusing on autonomous systems,” said Cook. This is something that many journalists and fans had suspected for a long time. It doesn’t make much sense for Apple to get into the car-making business, as it’s so completely different from what the brand currently does. Though, it does make sense for Apple to develop the systems for autonomous cars.

“It’s a core technology that we view as very important.” Cook said about autonomous tech. He followed by saying it’s “the mother of all AI projects,” and that it’s “probably one of the most difficult AI projects to work on.”’

While Cook seems to be stressing that Apple is working on the software and A.I. side of things, some feel that the brand may still develop cars. “Now we know Apple is all in, and, judging by its track record in other areas, it will be a force. Apple’s strategy to commercialize autonomous vehicles remains to be seen — will they partner and sell the technology or actually develop their own vehicles?” said Michelle Krebs, executive analyst for Autotrader.

Apple recently invested $1 billion in Didi Chuxing, a massive Chinese-based ride-hailing service. So maybe the California-based brand is looking to get more into autonomous ride-sharing, rather than manufacturing.

We don’t know all the details as of yet, as Apple is typically quite secretive. However, we do know that Apple will be an interesting company to watch in the future. The brand could very well develop the sort of A.I. and/or autonomous software that powers many of the world’s self-driving cars in the near future. We’ve already seen its Apple CarPlay work its way into almost every car company’s infotainment system, so it could very well start to become the maker of autonomous tech for the car world.

[Source: Bloomberg]