Beware Tesla: Apple apparently has you in its sights.
Not only is Apple poaching engineers from Tesla — reversing some of its own losses to the electric car maker — but it’s got a new project in the works that directly threatens Elon Musk’s company, reports Business Insider.
The project “will change the landscape and give Tesla a run for its money,” an anonymous Apple employee told the online news site.
The employee didn’t give any more hints about the project. But Business Insider noted that many of the Tesla employees that Apple hired have experience in robotics, manufacturing and mechanics. All told, Business Insider found 50 Apple employees listed on LinkedIn who previously worked at Tesla.
Business Insider speculated that Apple might be working on a car of its own or, more likely, on a more advanced version of its CarPlay system that connects iPhones to cars’ infotainment systems.
The idea that Apple might build a car of its own isn’t as outlandish as it might seem. Outgoing Apple board member Mickey Drexler said three years ago that one of former CEO Steve Jobs’ ambitions was to build the “iCar.” Meanwhile, several Apple executives are known to be car aficionados, among them Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services, who sits on the board of Ferrari.
Apple and Tesla, whose latest quarterly report is due out Tuesday afternoon, have had an ambivalent relationship over the years. Some 150 employees have jumped ship from Apple to work at Tesla in recent years, lured in part, according to some reports, by Musk’s Jobs-like leadership of the automaker. But as recently as a year ago, rumors were buzzing that Apple might actually buy Tesla.
Photo: File photo of Apple’s CarPlay system running in a Ferrari. (Sandro Campardo/EPA)
