Apple Enters The Race For Self-Driving Cars

The first images of a Lexus car powered by Apple's self-driving car technology has been spotted on the Silicon Valley roads, reports Bloomberg. This development comes two weeks after Apple obtained permission from California state authorities to test its autonomous car technology.

Apple's $750 billion autonomous vehicle project is internally code-named as "Project Titan". The project ran into internal turmoil due to a host of reasons including confusion over product vision and leadership challenges. It took a long period for the company to decide whether to develop its own car or build a self-driving software platform.

Twenty-nine companies have received permits in California to test self-driving cars. The list includes automobile behemoth like Ford, General Motors, BMW, Volkswagen and Tesla. Google, Apple's main technological rival, has also floated an autonomous car development company Waymo.

While developing the self-driving software platform represents a huge leap forward for Apple, analysts believe that the company may be a late entrant into an already crowded market with cut-throat competition.

With more than $250 billion in its war chest, Apple could also look at the option of acquiring technology that accelerates the development of self-driving cars. Tesla has been identified as one of the potential takeover targets for Apple by Citigroup, as a means to put its enormous cash pile of more than $250 billion to work.