Apple has purchased autonomous vehicle startup Drive.ai for an undisclosed amount, according to reports.
The start-up had raised $77m in venture capital, with its latest round in 2017 valuing it at $200m.
Drive.ai was founded in 2015 by machine learning researchers from Stanford University and had been running a ride-hailing service with its autonomous shuttles in Texas, The Verge reported late on Tuesday.
It was rumoured that the California-based startup in Mountain View was going to shut shop and lay off its employees, however Apple’s takeover puts a lid on those plans.
The Cupertino-based company has hired dozens of Drive.ai engineers and Drive.ai has ceased all operations over the course of the last few weeks. This deal and its hiring confirm that the iPhone maker hasn't given up on its autonomous driving project.
Drive.ai was building up to be one of the most promising startups involved in the field of self-driving cars. The company came into the limelight for using deep learning to recognize and avoid objects on the road.
Earlier this year, Apple cut over 200 employees from its Project Titan team terming it as "restructuring." In July last year, Drive.ai joined hands with the City of Frisco, Texas to launch its first autonomous pilot programme.
(With IANS inputs)
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