You’ve probably heard the rumours that Apple is working on a car project, apparently codenamed Project Titan. While nobody is completely sure what Apple’s plans are in this field, there has been plenty of evidence that Apple is investing in this area (such as the patent image above).
We are aware that the project has changed direction several times over the years. The company has at one time laid off hundreds of employees associated with the project, and then later hired many more.
The project is said to be led by Doug Field, who was reporting to Bob Mansfield. The latter retired from his role as Apple’s hardware manager back in 2012, but soon returned to a smaller role and then as an external advisor, and then in 2016, he became ultimately responsible for Project Titan. Now, according to Bloomberg, Mansfield has retired (again).
As a result of his retirement, the project has moved from Bob Mansfield’s now closed department to the department of artificial intelligence and machine learning led by John Giannandrea. Hundreds of engineers and developers are said to have changed departments during the move.
Today, Apple seems to focus on the technology for self-driving cars rather than a complete car. The company has been testing the technology in modified Lexus SUVs since 2017, but is still far behind its competitors in the field.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation by Karen Haslam.