14 DAY TRIAL // A staff poaching war between Apple and Tesla is said to be underway. Though it’s not certain who is poaching the most valuable talents from whom, according to an anonymous tip.
Apple reportedly has roughly 50 employees on payroll who left Tesla to work for the Cupertino-based iPhone maker. This, according to LinkedIn. Many of them are engineers who worked as interns at Tesla in areas like mechanics, manufacturing, and robotics, Business Insider reports.
“Vehicle development”
After the Internet got flooded with photos of Apple-leased vans carrying camera arrays, the site claims to have received an “unsolicited” email from an Apple staffer about ‘vehicle development’ at the company.” The staffer’s role in the Apple organization is not mentioned, so he/she could be anything from a high-level project manager to an impostor.
Far-fetched, right? Not necessarily. Contrary to what the media has been saying about Apple’s ongoing poaching war with Tesla, this person reportedly said that it it’s actually Tesla’s staff who is “jumping ship” to work at Apple. Which bodes well with the LinkedIn findings, and of course Apple’s ongoing plans to offer vehicle automation systems with its CarPlay product.
The icing on the cake? “Apple's latest project is too exciting to pass up,” this person reportedly said. “I think it will change the landscape and give Tesla a run for its money.”
Don’t think EVs just yet
While some may be tempted to believe Apple is delving into the electric vehicle game, we wouldn’t hold our breath for that. Getting into this market doesn’t just happen over night, so any development in this area would almost certainly send visible ripples throughout the industry. Especially when it comes to an organization as vast as Apple’s.
No. What’s probably at heart here is CarPlay, Apple’s fledging automation system that blends its mobile operating system (iOS) with car dashboards, for keyless ignition, temperature control, mechanical on/off features, etc. It may not sound like much now, but Apple has a way of erasing the line between regular folk and technology like no other.