Apple hires former Waymo engineer for its self-driving car project Titan
Consumer electronics giant Apple Inc is slowly but surely finding its way in the self-driving race. Reports suggest that Apple recently hired Jamie Waydo, a prominent engineer from the autonomous vehicle unit of Waymo, which was formerly known as the Google self-driving car project. Little is known about Apple's self-driving project, Titan. While the Cupertino, California-based company has not announced any major progress, apart from some patent filings leaked earlier, this hire could be a precursor to bigger announcements.
Reports suggest that the hiring of a high-profile executive such as Waydo could mean that Apple may be finally close to a prototype. It may even be ready to start showcasing its progress on the project. Google and Uber have both been regularly showcasing their updates to their driverless tech and car projects while Apple has been quiet so far.
An image from Apple's patent filing for autonomous car tech earlier this year
Waydo had previously played a key role as head of systems engineering at Waymo and was instrumental in the company's tests as well as upgrades which allowed it to completely do away with human backup drivers from its test vehicles.
Another big name to have joined the Titan development was Alex Hitzinger, who moved from the Porsche LMP1 (Le Mans Prototype) project to Apple in December 2016. However, there is no word on his role in the project yet. Hopefully, it is only a matter of time before the Project Titan is presented to the public.
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