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Tim Cook Confirms Apple is Working on Autonomous Systems

'Autonomy is something that's incredibly exciting for us, but we'll see where it takes us,' Apple CEO Tim Cook said during a recent interview.

 & Angela Moscaritolo Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

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Apple still isn't making any promises about whether it will release a self-driving car in the future, but the company's CEO Tim Cook recently acknowledged that the company is working on the brains of one.

During an interview with Bloomberg Television's Emily Chang at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 5, Tim Cook said the Cupertino tech giant is currently working on what it believes to be "the mother of all AI projects."

"You've said cars are an area ripe for disruption," Chang says. "How important is it that Apple not miss out on cars?"

"I think there is a major disruption looming there," Cook begins. "Not only for self-driving cars, but also the electrification piece. If you've driven an all-electric car it's actually a marvelous experience… Plus, you have ridesharing on top of this, so you've got… three vectors of change happening, generally, in the same time frame."

He goes on to say that Apple is "focusing on autonomous systems."

"Clearly one purpose of autonomous systems is self-driving cars," Cook says. "There are others."

He adds that "autonomy is something that's incredibly exciting for us, but we'll see where it takes us. We're not really saying, from a product point of view, what we will do, but we are being straightforward that it's a core technology that we view as very important."

Bloomberg in October reported that Apple had "drastically scaled back" its car team, cutting hundreds of jobs. Cupertino is now focused on creating software rather than an actual vehicle, Bloomberg said at the time, so it can potentially partner with existing carmakers. That followed a September report from the New York Times, which said Apple had "laid off dozens" of people as it cut back its car effort, dubbed Project Titan.

About Our Expert

Angela Moscaritolo

Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

My Experience

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

The Technology I Use

My little Florida beach bungalow is brimming with smart home tech. I have a smart speaker or display in every room, allowing me to control other connected devices by voice. The Nest Hub on my bedside table lets me set wake-up alarms, control my smart light bulbs, and set the temperature on my smart thermostat. I use the Amazon Echo Show 8 on my kitchen counter to browse recipes, reorder protein powder, check the weather, and watch the news while I do dishes. 

Because I suffer from allergies, air purifiers are essential. My favorite model is the Dyson Purifier Cool TP07, which doubles as a fan and continuously sends indoor pollution data to its companion mobile app. 

My pitbull Bradley sheds, so a good robot vacuum is a must. I currently use a premium Ecovacs Deebot that can both vacuum and mop, empty its own dustbin, and wash its own mop cloth. 

For fitness, I like to mix up my routine with cycling, indoor rowing, running, and strength training in addition to yoga. I take classes on the Tonal 2 smart strength training machine, I row indoors on an Aviron machine, and track my beach runs with an Apple Watch while listening to music on my Apple AirPods Pro. On the weekends, I love riding e-bikes like the rugged, beach-friendly Aventon Aventure for fun and fitness.

My job involves a lot of virtual meetings, so a quality webcam, microphone, and ring light are important. I use the Jabra PanaCast 20 webcam, the Elgato Wave: 3 microphone, and a Yesker tripod ring light. 

As for my preferred phone platform, I'm an iPhone person, but I've also extensively used Android for product testing.

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