AI Chief John Giannandrea Takes Over Apple Car Project

Apple is continuing work on developing some kind of autonomous vehicle product, and the project is under new leadership. Apple artificial intelligence lead John Giannandrea is now overseeing Apple Car development as prior lead Bob Mansfield has retired, reports Bloomberg.

lexussuvselfdriving2

One of the self-driving vehicles Apple uses to test its autonomous driving software

It's been quite some time since we heard news about the Apple Car, but Project Titan as the car development is known is now in the hands of Giannandrea, though day to day operations continue to be overseen by Doug Field.

Field was reporting to Bob Mansfield, who came out of retirement in 2016 to handle the Apple Car project. Mansfield first retired in June 2012, but ultimately remained at Apple as an advisor. Prior to being led by Mansfield, Apple's senior vice president of hardware engineering Dan Riccio was overseeing work on the Apple Car.

Giannandrea is Apple's senior vice president of AI and machine learning, and Project Titan's hundreds of engineers are now under his watch. Giannandrea also heads up Siri development and Apple's work on machine learning.

Apple has been working on some kind of self-driving car technology since 2014, but development has been stymied by technical and leadership challenges. Apple was originally working on a full car, but focus seems to have shifted to an in-car autonomous driving system. Apple continues to have dozens of self-driving test vehicles out on the road.

Back in 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that Apple is working on autonomous driving software. "We're focusing on autonomous systems. It's a core technology that we view as very important. We sort of see it as the mother of all AI projects. It's probably one of the most difficult AI projects actually to work on," he said.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 3 4ths Perspective Aluminum Camera Module 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:52 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple 2025 Thumb 1

10 Products Still Coming From Apple in 2025

Friday April 11, 2025 4:14 pm PDT by
Apple may have updated several iPads and Macs late last year and early this year, but there are still multiple new devices that we're looking forward to seeing in 2025. Most will come in September or October, but there could be a few surprises before then. We've rounded up a list of everything that we're still waiting to see from Apple in 2025. iPhone 17, 17 Air, and 17 Pro - We get...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Triad

Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone May Finally Go All Screen

Tuesday April 15, 2025 6:31 am PDT by
Apple is preparing a "bold" new iPhone Pro model for the iPhone's 20th anniversary in 2027, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. As part of what's being described as a "major shake-up," Apple is said to be developing a design that makes more extensive use of glass – and this could point directly to the display itself. Here's the case for Apple releasing a truly all-screen iPhone with no...
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:37 am PDT by
The first iOS 19 beta is less than two months away, and there are already a handful of new features that are expected with the update. Apple should release the first iOS 19 beta to developers immediately following the WWDC 2025 keynote, which is scheduled for Monday, June 9. Following beta testing, the update should be released to the general public in September. Below, we recap the key...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Foldable iPhone Resolutions Leak With Under-Screen Camera Tipped

Monday April 14, 2025 3:12 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold") will feature two screens as part of its book-style design, and a Chinese leaker claims to know the resolutions for both of them. According to the Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station, the inner display, which is approximately 7.76 inches, will use a 2,713 x 1,920 resolution and feature "under-screen camera technology." Meanwhile, the...
iPad Pro iPadOS

iPadOS 19 Will Be 'More Like macOS' in Three Ways

Sunday April 13, 2025 6:43 am PDT by
A common complaint about the iPad Pro is that the iPadOS software platform fails to fully take advantage of the device's powerful hardware. That could soon change. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said that iPadOS 19 will be "more like macOS." Gurman said that iPadOS 19 will be "more like a Mac" in three ways:Improved productivity Improved multitasking Improved app window management...
Apple Vision Pro with battery Feature Blue Magenta

Vision Pro 2 Rumored to Have Two Key Advantages Over Current Model

Sunday April 13, 2025 7:15 am PDT by
Apple is working on a new version of the Vision Pro with two key advantages over the current model, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Specifically, in his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said Apple is developing a new headset that is both lighter and less expensive than the current Vision Pro, which starts at $3,499 in the U.S. and weighs up to 1.5 pounds. Gurman said Apple is also...
Apple Bristol Current

An Apple Store in the UK is Permanently Closing Later This Year

Monday April 14, 2025 7:33 am PDT by
Apple has confirmed that it will be permanently closing its retail store in the heart of Bristol, England, and there is no replacement in sight. Apple Bristol in 2023 Apple Bristol will be closing its doors on Saturday, August 9, due to redevelopment plans at the Cabot Circus Shopping Centre, and the adjacent Bristol Shopping Quarter. According to news reports, and a building application, the ...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

Waiting for the Perfect MacBook Pro? 2026 Might Be the Year

Thursday April 10, 2025 4:19 am PDT by
Apple in October 2024 overhauled its 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display changes, and more. That's quite a lot of updates in one go, but if you think this means a further major refresh for the MacBook Pro is now several years away, think again. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has said he expects only a small...

Top Rated Comments

mcfrazieriv Avatar
57 months ago
My hope for this project has run dry. It was interesting back when Tesla was the only viable EV. Now you have literally every manufacturer coming out with a vehicle with decades of experience in production. BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Ford, Caddy, Hummer, Rivian, Lexus, etc.

Will the Apple Car use the Digital Crown as a steering wheel? "Made 100% of recycled aluminum and powered by Siri"

Hey Siri - turn left.
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that."
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
57 months ago
You mean the guy responsible for Siri? Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JosephAW Avatar
57 months ago
When they finally release a car it will be priced like their new headphones with three more zeros added to the price and Mr Cook will say this is a car for the average citizen. :p
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
filchermcurr Avatar
57 months ago
God help us if autonomous vehicles are powered by Siri.

"HEY SIRI, EMERGENCY STOP!"
"Your car is not connected to the internet."

Or your phone or watch catches it and fails to pass it off to the car. "I'm sorry, I can only do that in Apple Car."
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Erehy Dobon Avatar
57 months ago

My hope for this project has run dry. It was interesting back when Tesla was the only viable EV. Now you have literally every manufacturer coming out with a vehicle with decades of experience in production. BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Ford, Caddy, Hummer, Rivian, Lexus, etc.
You are mixing up electric vehicles (EV) with autonomous driving. They are two separate technologies.

Electric vehicles have been around for quite a while, the most notable ones being the Ford EV1 (modeled after the Probe) and Toyota's RAV4 EV way back from the Nineties.

Note that almost all of the companies researching autonomous driving start in gasoline-powered vehicles.

This includes Google/Waymo and Apple who have both used the Chrysler Pacifica minivan for autonomous driving research.

There are probably thirty companies with autonomous driving research teams in the north Santa Clara County area, so of which are the major auto manufacturers and a bunch of startups including ones that have been acquired by larger companies (driveAI is one notable acquired startup).

There are tons of test vehicles on the local roads, some of which are clearly marked by the developing company, plenty of others are in stealth mode.

Note that this seems to include motorcycle manufacturers. There was a Ducati office in a nondescript Silicon Valley office park very close to where I live. This was not a sales office.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nt5672 Avatar
57 months ago
Can't wait for AI updates that break the car for 2+ weeks until they are fixed. Apple has way too many software problems to be serious about AI and driving.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)