“I haven’t met you” line about Musk’s story
▲ Apple CEO Tim Cook is speaking at the headquarters in Cupertino, California, USA on September 10, 2019 (local time). Cupertino/Reuters Yonhap News
Tim Cook, Apple’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), gave hints about the Apple Cars that are currently in the spotlight. After the Apple car negotiations with Apple and Hyundai and Kia were stopped, there was no news about it, and it is drawing market interest once again.
According to CNBC broadcast on the 5th (local time), CEO Cook appeared on the New York Times (NYT) sway podcast, revealing that Apple is currently focusing on self-driving cars.
“In my opinion, autonomous driving itself is a key technology,” Cook said. In a broader sense, cars are eventually robots,” he said. “There are a lot of things that can be done with self-driving technology, and we will see what Apple will do in the future.” He added, “We are investigating a lot of things internally.”
He did not answer the question of whether to develop the entire Apple car or the technology that goes into the car. However, this interview implies that at least Apple is focusing on self-driving car technology.
“We like to integrate hardware and software and find intersections,” Cook said. It’s because I think magic happens there.”
He also mentioned Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Earlier, Mr. Musk said he pushed to sell the company to Apple last year, but Cook didn’t respond.
“He has great respect for his business, but he hasn’t spoken with him,” Cook said.
Meanwhile, he, who has served as CEO for 10 years and turned 60 this year, also revealed plans for the future. “It’s a very good atmosphere right now, but it seems like it’s a long time to spend 10 more years (as CEO), and it probably won’t be that way,” he said.