Apple officially confirm his interest in the autonomous car – The Echoes

This is the end of an open secret. After years of rumors and buzz cleverly looked after, Apple has given the first official manifestation of his interest in the autonomous car. In a letter dated 22 November and addressed to the federal office of road safety (NHTSA), Steve Kenner, director in charge of the” product integrity ” of the firm at the apple, provides its comments on the future draft regulation brought by the Obama administration. In mid-September, the latter had published a guide of good practices for autonomous cars to unify the different regulations, prompting the builders to share with the authorities their technologies, and to define, in fine, the future regulations of these vehicles.

Then write now the rules of a market is potentially huge, it was difficult for Apple not to come out of the woodwork. The firm shows bluntly his enthusiasm. ” Apple has look forward to working with NHTSA and other parties in order that one can enjoy in a safe, responsible and timely of the important societal benefits of automated vehicles “, wrote the group, which indicates investing ” heavily “. The giant digital said in favour of data sharing between manufacturers, in particular to improve the prevention of accidents, indicating that it would ” to build a more comprehensive database than what one company could do alone, “. The firm also encourages manufacturers to ” to consider the ethical dimensions ” of these future innovations, in reference to the hard choices that will confront the algorithm of the autonomous car – for example, decide to protect the occupant rathe r than pedestrian crossing. Finally, Apple requests that ” the established manufacturers and new entrants “ be ” treated equally “.

now only Remains to know, behind the intentions, the concrete project of Apple. Since two years already, the firm at the apple has launched – but never confirmed – an in-house program dedicated to the autonomous car and named it ” Titan “. According to the american media, this commando, initially focused on the design of an autonomous car in full, would be refocused in September on the automation technologies and software platform. Apple also positioned itself on the services related to mobility, by investing, in the spring of last year, a billion dollars in the chinese company, booking car with driver Didi. Some imagine already the firm to the apple operating fleets of robot taxis, integrating its technology platforms, providing cars on demand, shared or not. A new form of mobility to which appear to converge the different stakeholders, be it the traditional builders (General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen…) or new entrants (Uber, Go ogle, etc.). The battle promises to be bloody…