Elon Musk, founder of electric car company Tesla, thinks that when it comes to self-driving technology, his company won’t have to worry about Google.
“Google’s done a great job at showing the potential of autonomous transport, but they’re not a car company,” Musk said at Recode‘s currently ongoing Code Conference. “So they’d potentially license to other companies.”
“I wouldn’t say they’re a competitor,” he added.
But when asked whether Apple is considered a competitor, Musk replied in the affirmative.
“Yeah,” Musk replied. “That’ll be more direct.”
Apple’s competition doesn’t seem to impress him much, however. Musk stated he believes Apple may have got in to the game too late to make a significant impact in the autonomous car industry, noting that he thinks there will be volume production no sooner than 2020.
In the past Musk has referred to Apple’s car project as the “Tesla graveyard,” due to the company’s hiring of dismissed Tesla employees, and at the conference he threw some more (exceedingly civil) shade.
“I think it’s great they’re doing this,” he said, “and I hope it works out.”
Image credit: Dan Taylor/Heisenberg Media
Related reading: Apple Car may be manufactured by Canadian automotive supplier Magna
[source]Recode[/source]
