Apple has swooped in and snapped up self-driving startup company Drive.ai, which was planning on closing down this week.
The Cupertino-based firm has also hired some of Drive.ai’s software and hardware engineers, which will be working on product design and engineering. 4 of the 5 engineers are currently working on Apple special projects, including systems, data and software platforms as stated in their LinkedIn profiles.
Three weeks ago it was rumored that Apple was considering buying Drive.ai. Thomas Yih, general counsel at Drive.ai has written that the company will be closing its doors on June 28, but left a window open for possible acquisitions.
Apple’s own self-driving team underwent a series of layoffs this year. There were more than 200 employees released from Project Titan due to “restructuring” reasons.
Drive.ai is unique in that it offered kits that could turn regular vehicles into smart cars that could navigate the roads on their own. The startup intended to partner up with Lyft and was valued at $200 million two years ago.
