The Apple logo is seen on the facade of the new Apple Store in Paris, France, January 5, 2017.

The Apple logo is seen on the facade of the new Apple Store in Paris, France, January 5, 2017. Reuters/Charles Platiau

It seems that Apple hasn’t given up on its self-driving car project after all. A new report hints on the company’s seemingly “quiet” car interest and operation. The Apple car venture, which is called Project Titan, is now expected to be completed on 2021.

Apple is reportedly working on its car project in low-key fashion at a research laboratory in Switzerland. Not only that, the Mac maker is also said to have enlisted the services of specialised tech analysts. According to the report, no less than ten ETH Zurich University doctoral and postdoctoral students have left the institution for the research facility.

“The specialists from the laboratories for computer vision and robotics are particularly in demand,” the Inside IT report stated, which was initially covered by Apple Insider. “Most of them are from the area of ​​ visual navigation research.”

ETH Zurich University’s Roland Siegwart, professor of autonomous systems, revealed that five of his specialists have moved on to big-time global companies like Apple and Google, but he was not able to confirm if Apple does have a research and development facility in Switzerland. Apple has supposedly declined to comment on the subject.

The tech giant is time and again open about its new global research facilities, although there have been times when Apple remained discreet about them, especially when they involve new company innovations. A good example would be last year’s discovery of a secret car laboratory in Germany. There was also a report from two years ago that exposed an Apple facility in Sunnyvale, California, near the company’s Cupertino headquarters.

During the early third quarter of last year, Apple reportedly loosened up on its Project Titan efforts, which led to the dismissal of hundreds of its personnel. Included in the sacking were hardware and software engineers, who were said to be assigned on the development of an Apple Car OS. Steve Zadesky, the project’s leader, has also moved on from the venture last year. Apple has apparently hired Tesla’s former vice president of vehicle engineering Chris Porritt to replace Zadesky as Project Titan’s frontrunner.

It remains to be seen what the iPhone maker intends to do with its Apple car project. It was initially thought that the company was developing full-fledged automobiles, but it has since narrowed down to self-driving vehicles. Project Titan was reportedly set for completion in 2019, the original target date. But since the progress hasn’t been what’s expected, the project has been pushed back for another couple of years.

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