Apple’s a company that’s well known for keeping quiet when it comes to new projects, especially when it comes to driverless car technology.
However, a recent report was shared with around 200 artificial intelligence (AI) at a free lunch hosted by the company.
Apple’s head of AI, Ruslan Salakhutdinov, was the man who led the announcement and according to the website, revealed a great deal about the company’s future plans, particularly in terms of AI.
He revealed how the company is currently using advanced machine learning techniques in which to develop and perfect its vehicle’s self-driving capabilities.
During his speech, Salakhutdinov also spoke of “using data from cameras and other sensors” to help to detect pedestrians and other cars, as well as drive efficiently in areas it’s unfamiliar with.
Apple’s AI technology can even spot pedestrians who are partially hidden behind parked vehicles.
However, rather than develop its own brand of self-driving motor, Apple is concentrating on the systems behind these cars that can be sold on to car manufacturers already set up for it.
MORE – World’s Top 33 Companies Working on Self Driving Cars
Others in the technology are taking a similar approach, including global chipmaker Intel.
Just three months ago the company announced its partnership with Google’s autonomous vehicle branch, Waymo.
Together the firms will be looking to launch a specially adapted, AI-based, Chrysler Pacifica MPV.
In a recent interview, Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said the company was working on “probably one of the most difficult AI projects” and that “autonomous systems were a core technology that we view as very important.”
That’s not to say Apple won’t release its own autonomous car in the future, but for now, it intends to concentrate on helping others get there.
David Bailey is an expert in the auto industry, and he said that Apple “can offer a number of things such as software systems that enable the tech to function.
He also mentioned that it can also help make driverless technology “extremely friendly for a passenger in a way that other tech companies haven’t been able to do.”
In September 2015 rumors had it that Apple was developing its own driverless car.
These rumors were strengthened when the website announced it had “sent a letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in Washington that alluded to its plans for a vehicle.”
Source TheWeek
