Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Tim Cook gave some tips on working on the long-awaited Apple Car and said he has great “admiration and respect” for Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA).
What happened: In an interview with Kara Swisher on the “Sway” podcast, Cook declined to comment on whether Apple was working on a car or on technology in a car.
However, Cook said that Apple loves to integrate hardware, software and services and “find the points of intersection of them because we think this is where the magic occurs”.
“And we love having the primary technology that surrounds it,” added the Apple CEO.
On Tesla: Cook also said that although he never spoke to Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, he has great admiration and respect for the company that Musk built.
“I think Tesla did an incredible job not only establishing the leadership, but maintaining the leadership for a long time in the EV space. So I have a great appreciation for them, ”Cook told Swisher.
Musk tweeted in December last year that he once tried to contact Cook to discuss the possibility of Apple acquiring Tesla, but Cook refused to set up a meeting.
See too: Why Apple may emerge as Tesla’s ‘first real competitor’
Why does it matter: It has long been speculated that Apple is working on the development of an autonomous vehicle under the code name Project Titan. The company also acquired the autonomous startup Drive.ai in June 2019.
There has been intense speculation about Apple’s potential partners in the autonomous electric vehicle. It was reported in February that Apple could still partner with the South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company (OTC: HYMTF) subsidiary Kia Corp. in electric vehicles, even after the latter denied such a move in a statement.
It is also speculated that Apple may work with a manufacturer contracted for its alleged electric vehicle, after negotiations with some automakers have failed.
Share price: Apple’s stock closed nearly 2.4% up on Monday at $ 125.90 and still rose almost 0.5% in the after-hours session.
Read below: Snapchat risks Apple’s wrath with attempts to circumvent the new privacy rules: FT
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