Although the Apple Car project may be discontinued, it laid the groundwork for Apple Intelligence.

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      A decade of work on a canceled car project is said to have paved the way for Apple Intelligence.

      Apple Intelligence in Apple Car

      Varun Mirchandani / Digital Trends

      Although the Apple Car never made it to the market, it reportedly sparked Apple’s aspirations in AI. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman noted that Apple’s abandoned autonomous vehicle initiative, which consumed over ten years of effort and more than $10 billion before being halted in 2024, laid the technological groundwork for Apple Intelligence. In a somewhat ironic turn of events, one of Apple’s priciest failures could potentially transform into one of its most significant long-term investments.

      The Apple Car prompted Apple to adopt an AI mindset

      When Apple initially began its self-driving vehicle project, the aim wasn't just to create an electric car. The company aimed for Level 5 autonomy, the highest level of self-driving where a vehicle operates fully independently without human intervention.

      This ambitious goal led Apple to face one of the most significant engineering challenges imaginable: handling massive AI workloads both locally and in real time. To achieve this, engineers heavily invested in machine learning research and custom silicon specifically designed for AI processing. Though the advanced chip meant for the car never made it to market, the foundational work was not wasted. Instead, it evolved into the Neural Engine, Apple’s dedicated AI processor now included in almost every modern Apple chip.

      The first Neural Engine debuted in the iPhone X in 2017, powering features such as Face ID and Animoji. Since then, Apple has continuously integrated this technology across its product range. Every Apple Silicon Mac released since 2020 has included a Neural Engine, enabling Macs to run AI tasks locally instead of depending solely on the cloud.

      Its impact extends beyond the iPhone

      Bloomberg indicates that the influence of the canceled vehicle project goes far beyond consumer devices. The same research is said to have informed Apple’s powerful Ultra-class Mac chips and the custom processors currently powering Apple Intelligence servers. While Apple has faced challenges in delivering AI software features as swiftly as competitors like Google and Microsoft, the company has quietly built the necessary hardware over the past decade to support those features. These early investments are starting to pay dividends as Apple continues to develop Apple Intelligence and rebuilds Siri using more advanced AI models.

      Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

      This aspect of the story is particularly intriguing. The Apple Car is often remembered as a notable failure since it never reached consumers. However, Bloomberg suggests that internally, the project may have achieved something arguably more significant: it advanced Apple’s expertise in AI hardware long before generative AI became a key battleground in the industry. In retrospect, the company’s shelved vehicle might never transport anyone, but the technology it inspired is already contributing to the next generation of AI experiences at Apple, which may prove to be the far more crucial destination.

      Varun is an experienced technology journalist and editor with over eight years in consumer tech media. His work spans…

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