Image source: Drive.ai
Apple is boosting its autonomous car project team with a possible acquisition of a self-driving startup.
Two sources told The Information that Apple is in the process of acquiring Drive.ai. The latter has been running small pilot programs of its prototype shuttles in Texas and began searching for buyers for the company as early as February.
The deal is described as an "acqui-hire" which means that Apple is acquiring the startup for its engineering talent, which could boost its efforts to develop a self-driving vehicle system. Apple recently cut more than 200 staff from the autonomous car project.
The autonomous car project team is currently led by Doug Field, who is previously a Telsa engineering vice president and Apple veteran. The team members reportedly include Jamie Waydo, a senior engineer of Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving vehicle team, and Chris Porritt who was the former Telsa vice president of vehicle engineering and former Aston Martin Chief Engineer.
Source: The Information via CNBC
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