Former Apple engineer takes plea deal for stealing self-driving trade secrets before working for XPeng
Former Apple engineer Xiaolang Zhang has pleaded guilty to trade secret theft after being accused of stealing information surrounding Apple’s self-driving technology. Zhang would go on to work for XPeng Motors in China, which has publicly stated it has zero involvement with Apple or Zhang’s case.
Expand Expanding CloseCEO confirms NIO is developing its own phones, names Apple as a potential rival
Although NIO CEO William Li recently admitted the company is only in the research phase, he has confirmed the Chinese automaker is exploring the production of its own phones. By combining technology with humanity, NIO hopes to provide one holistic system for consumers’ daily lives – much like Apple, who NIO’s CEO sees as a potential rival in the future.
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Elon Musk wanted to be Apple CEO, but Tim Cook dropped an F bomb on that idea [U: Musk denies]
Update: Tesla CEO Elon Musk is denying that this interaction ever took place. He wrote on Twitter today that he and Cook have never spoken or written to each other. “There was a point where I requested to meet with Cook to talk about Apple buying Tesla. There were no conditions of acquisition proposed whatsoever. He refused to meet,” Musk says.
The history between Tesla and Apple, and between Tim Cook and Elon Musk, varies depending on who you talk to. At one point, Musk claimed to have reached out to Cook about selling Tesla to Apple, but Cook refused to even take a meeting. Cook, on the other hand, claims to have never spoken to Musk.
Now, Wall Street Journal reporter Tim Higgins is out with a new book next month called Power Play: Tesla, Elon Musk and the Bet of the Century, and it recounts an expletive-ridden conversation between Cook and Musk about Apple acquiring Tesla.
Expand Expanding CloseApple to buy over $50 million worth of batteries from Tesla for new energy storage project
Apple announced a massive new energy storage project in California, and we learned that Tesla will supply its Megapack battery systems for the project.
Expand Expanding CloseFoxconn may (or may not) produce EVs at its Wisconsin facility
Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn recently revealed it is considering its Wisconsin facility to produce its first electric vehicle. The international electronics juggernaut is strategizing for contract manufacturing of electric vehicles in North America. The company’s president recently told the media that Foxconn is debating between its Wisconsin facility or one of its plants in Mexico to produce EVs for clients.
Expand Expanding CloseTech companies venturing into electric vehicles: Sony, Apple, and more
Why would companies that manufacture phones, like Sony or Apple, want to get into the electric vehicle business? A better question to ask is, “why wouldn’t they?” While electric vehicles have only just begun to corner a small portion of the automobile market, the upside of prospective growth is tremendous. As vehicles become more reliant on batteries, wiring, and programming in lieu of combustion engines, companies like Sony and Apple feel they have enough knowledge and expertise to take a crack at an electric vehicle of their own.
Expand Expanding CloseAn ‘Apple Car’ EV? What we know and how we got here
Apple has gifted the world with a library of devices that have since become household names, many of which we use daily. There’s the iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro, and AirPods; but when you think Apple, Car is not the first word to come to mind. That might soon change as recent news has breathed new life into over ten years of rumors surrounding Apple’s attempt at an electric car. Here’s everything we know so far, along with the winding road of a backstory that brought us to this point.
Expand Expanding CloseElon Musk reveals he looked to sell Tesla to Apple for a fraction of its current value
Elon Musk has confirmed rumors that he tried to sell Tesla to Apple not so long ago, but Apple CEO Tim Cook wouldn’t even take the meeting.
Cook probably regrets it since Musk said that he was willing to let Tesla go for 1/10th of its current value.
Expand Expanding CloseApple adds electric car charge routing to Maps in iOS 14 for BMW, Ford, and other EVs
Apple’s WWDC keynote included some good electric vehicle news today, when Apple announced that they would add EV charge routing into their next update to Apple Maps for iOS 14.
This allows drivers to navigate to a destination and automatically be told where to charge and for how long, simplifying the process of taking a road trip with an electric car.
Apple tried to buy Tesla for more than it’s currently worth a few years ago, report says
Apple reportedly offered to buy Tesla at around $240 per share back in 2013.
The bid from six years ago is now being reported as Tesla’s share price has dipped under the price Apple was allegedly willing to pay.
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Apple hires Tesla’s head of electric powertrains in effort to bring electric car to market
There has long been a debate about Apple’s secretive automotive project being only about a self-driving system for vehicles rather than a full electric autonomous vehicle. It now looks clear that the latter is the case as Apple hires Tesla’s head of electric powertrains.
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Apple files patent for linking battery packs between moving electric vehicles
Apple has today filed a patent for a set of intriguing new autonomous vehicle features called “Peloton.” The filing describes the ability for multiple self-driving cars to share battery capacity via a “connector arm,” dynamically adjust positions, increase efficiency, and more.
Tesla could go to Apple for take-private deal, says investor – does it make sense?
There have been rumors of Tesla and Apple partnering up for years, but now they are intensifying in light of Elon Musk pushing to take Tesla private.
Ross Gerber activist Tesla investor is even now calling for Apple to take a stake in Tesla as part of the ongoing discussions for a take-private deal.
But does it make sense?
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Apple ramping self-driving car testing, more CA permits than Tesla and Uber
Apple doesn’t appear to be slowing down on its mysterious self-driving car technology testing. As noted in a new report on Uber’s fatal accident involving an autonomous vehicle, the Financial Times includes new data on how many self-driving cars Apple may be testing in California.
Apple may buy cobalt direct from mining companies as EV demand soars
Apple is reportedly in talks about buying cobalt direct from miners in a long-term deal set to span five years or more. The report is given weight by the CEO of one mining company confirming Apple has held discussions about cobalt, which is used in the lithium-ion batteries which power Apple devices …
Apple’s self driving car testing expands to nearly 30 SUVs as research continues
Apple has dramatically increased the number of self driving vehicles it is testing, Bloomberg reports. The company first received approval from state officials last spring to test three self driving cars on the road, but new inquiries to the California DMW show Apple has since expanded its test fleet to 27 vehicles total.
Report: Apple possibly leasing Chrysler’s former proving grounds to test autonomous cars
Rumors that Apple plans to develop and market a self-driving vehicle may have gone cold, but CEO Tim Cook has publicly acknowledged that the company is working on a ‘large project’ around autonomous systems.
The latest detail in the story comes via Jalopnik which reports that Apple may have leased Chrysler’s old proving grounds which could be used for testing autonomous cars.
Apple solar data center at 3.099¢/kWh helps NV Energy near lowest US PPA
Apple signed a deal this week to power to its Sparks, Nevada data center with possibly the cheapest contracted starting price for solar power in the US. The deal was signed with NV Energy, owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway.
The deal’s start price is 3.099¢/kWh with a 2% a year escalator making it very inexpensive energy. The size of the solar project is 50MW.
Tim Cook says Apple is working on a ‘large project’ around autonomous systems
Earlier this year, Tim Cook called self-driving car technology “incredibly exciting” and said that Apple is focusing heavily on autonomous systems. During Apple’s earnings call today, however, Cook offered some more color on Apple’s investments in autonomy…
Apple is reportedly working on electric car batteries with China’s biggest battery maker
Last year, Apple was rumored to be working on an autonomous all-electric car codenamed ‘Project Titan’. The company later confirmed development work on an autonomous driving platform and CEO Tim Cook even referred to it as “a core technology” for the company, but it showed signs of giving up on developing an actual car.
But now Apple is reportedly working on electric car batteries with China’s biggest battery maker.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook now says autonomous driving is a ‘core technology’ for the iPhone maker
While reports of Apple’s work on electric and self-driving cars have been surfacing for years, CEO Tim Cook has been careful about not confirming or denying any detail.
But he now makes rare comments on Apple’s effort in developing self-driving cars, which he referred to as “a core technology” for the company.
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Tesla looks exactly like Apple pre-iPhone era, says venture capitalist
After billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessen made the case that Tesla is to automakers what Apple was to Nokia circa 2007, now Facebook millionaire turned venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya is making a very convincing case about Tesla looking like Apple during the pre-iPhone era.
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Tesla is to automakers what Apple was to Nokia circa 2007, says Marc Andreessen
Tesla has often been compared to Apple for its disruptive nature, but Marc Andreessen, a billionaire venture capitalist and co-founder of Netscape, is taking the comparison a step further.
Andreessen believes that Tesla could have a similar impact on the auto industry as Apple had on the mobile market in the late 2000s.
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The guy who designed many of Apple’s iconic Macs will now be building Tesla vehicles
Chris Lattner isn’t the only high profile Apple executive who departed for Tesla over the past month, rather than sticking around to work on Titan. Electrek has learned that Matt Casebolt, a high-profile Senior Director of Design for Apple’s Mac lineup left the company last month for a role at Tesla as Sr. Director Engineering, Closures & Mechanisms. A job meant for a man named Casebolt…
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