Autonomous Vehicle Startup Zoox Snags 17 Former Apple Automotive Engineers
Seventeen automotive engineers who previously worked for Apple left the company to join self-driving startup Zoox following Apple's shift away from developing a full autonomous car, reports Bloomberg.
The group of engineers, who originally came to Apple from several Detroit carmakers and suppliers among other automotive companies, are said to specialize in designing hardware like braking and suspension systems.
One of the Lexus SUVs Apple is using to test its self-driving software
Many engineers who were recruited for Apple's car project left as Apple pivoted away from developing its own autonomous vehicle and instead began work on an autonomous driving system. Under the leadership of Bob Mansfield, the "Project Titan" car team is now developing autonomous software and testing that software out on the road in Lexus SUVs.
The latest exodus to Zoox suggests Apple is less likely to revive ambitions to make a car itself. The engineers found themselves increasingly sidelined and surplus to requirements at Apple, and were hired by the startup in piecemeal fashion in recent months, the people said.
It's not entirely clear yet what Apple plans to use its autonomous driving software for, but the company is exploring options like self-driving shuttles to ferry its employees from campus to campus as part of further testing. In the future, Apple could partner with a ride-sharing company or a car manufacturer to deploy its software.
Zoox, meanwhile, is working on an a full autonomous car in order to create a fleet of autonomous vehicles. The company has raised more than $250 million and has a valuation of more than $1 billion.
Popular Stories
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series in the fall, and a possible September 10 announcement date has been floated this year, which means we are just one month away from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design...
Apple's M3 MacBook Pro is seeing multiple high value discounts on Best Buy and Amazon today, with up to $1,000 off select models. This includes a new all-time low price on the entry-level M3 512GB 14-inch MacBook Pro at $1,299.00, down from $1,599.00, and a massive $1,000 discount on the high-end 16-inch model exclusively for Best Buy members. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best...
Multiple rumors have suggested that the iPhone 16 models are going to have an all-new button that's designed to make it easier to capture photos when the devices are held in landscape mode. Apple calls the button the Capture Button internally, and it is going to be one of the most advanced buttons that's been introduced to date with support for multiple gestures and the ability to respond to ...
Apple is beta testing iOS 18 and the first update to iOS 18 concurrently, and we got the second betas of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 today alongside the sixth betas of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia 15. Many of the changes in iOS 18.1 are focused on bringing the .1 betas in line with the standard betas, which recently received updates to Photos and Safari, while...
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
Apple's rumored iPhone 17 "Slim" could be positioned as an iPhone "Air" to boost sales, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained how the "fourth" model in the iPhone lineup since 2020 (the iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 14 Plus, and iPhone 15 Plus) has largely been a commercial failure. In the case of the Plus model,...
