Apple added a former Tesla executive to a leading role on the self-driving vehicle tech team last year, and the staff cut came with internal re-organisation. — AFP
SAN FRANCISCO: Apple acknowledged Jan 24 that it has trimmed its team devoted to self-driving car technology but stressed that it’s still in the race.
Apple’s comment came in response to a CNBC report that the staff of a secretive Project Titan was reduced this week by more than 200 people, some of whom were transferred to jobs elsewhere at the California-based technology group.
“We have an incredibly talented team working on autonomous systems and associated technologies at Apple,” the company said in a released statement.
“We continue to believe there is a huge opportunity with autonomous systems, that Apple has unique capabilities to contribute, and that this is the most ambitious machine learning project ever.”
“As the team focuses their work on several key areas for 2019, some groups are being moved to projects in other parts of the company, where they will support machine learning and other initiatives, across all of Apple,” the statement said.
Notoriously tight-lipped Apple revealed its autonomous vehicle technology aspirations late in 2016 in a letter to the US
Keyword: Apple puts brakes on car team but keeps eye on road