Apple admits it is developing self-driving vehicle technology

Apple has acknowledged that it is investing in self-driving car technology for the first time. There have been rumours about Apple’s plans but it had not publicly discussed them. The tech firm is known to have registered a number of car-related domain names, including apple.car, apple.cars and apple.auto.

Now Apple has told US transport regulator National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about is work on automated vehicles (AVs).

The five-page letter, written by Apple's director of product integrity Steve Kenner, urges the regulator not to introduce too many rules on the testing of self-driving cars, saying that “established manufacturers and new entrants should be treated equally”.

Kenner said Apple was “excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation”. The letter also stated AVs had the potential to deliver “significant societal benefits”.

The letter proposes that companies in the industry share data from crashes and near-misses to help build a more comprehensive picture than one company could manage alone. However, Kenner adds that an individual’s privacy should not be compromised by the sharing of such data. He suggests that the industry and regulators address “privacy challenges” relating to the collection, use, and sharing of automated vehicle data in collaboration from privacy experts outside the automotive industry.

Apple’s letter does not state whether it intends to build a self-driving car of its own. There is speculation that the firm had switched focus from work on a physical product to creating an autonomous driving system that could be used by others.

Research into self-driving vehicles is gathering pace globally. Rival tech giant Google has been testing self-driving cars on the roads for several years and just launched a new business called Waymo to progress its development.  

In the UK, the Transport Systems Catapult is test driving autonomous vehicles in Milton Keynes and plans to undertake trials in London. Volvo is working with Uber in testing automated vehicles in the USA and planning its own trials in both London and Gothenburg, Sweden.

In October, electric carmaker Tesla announced that all its new production cars will come with self-driving hardware as standard.