Video Shows Apple 'Project Titan' Self-Driving Lexus Test

Apple has been low key about it autonomous car tech, dubbed Project Titan, but there is now a short video of the iPhone company’s self-driving efforts.

Voyage co-founder MacCalister Higgins posted a short video of Project Titan’s test Lexus SUV, which he called "The Thing." The video givies the public a glimpse of what Apple is up to.

The top of the white vehicle is equipped with a suite sensors and self-driving hardware. Higgins said on Twitter the front and back both have 6 LiDARS and that the “majority of the compute stack is likely located inside the roof unit.” That move by Apple differentiates the company's technology from other autonomous vehicles that have their hardware in the trunk.

Below is the video Higgins uploaded showing Apple’s self-driving technology:

In one of the replies to the video, another user posted a picture of what seems to be the same type of car.

“I saw one of these a few weeks ago pull up to an Apple shuttle stop-sit there for a few then drove off,” the user said.

What We Know About Apple’s Project Titan

Apple reportedly started working on Project Titan in 2014. In April, Apple reportedly hired three former NASA engineers for Project Titan. The engineers previously worked in detection of 3D objects and motion planning algorithms, and were reportedly supposed to test self-driving software. Also in April, Apple received permission from the state of California to test autonomous technology. Apple’s DMV documents included a copy of the testing process Apple used to certify six drivers who will pilot three modified 2015 Lexus RX450h vehicles for its autonomous technology.

A few months ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook clarified that the company was not building its own self-driving vehicle, but was instead focusing on an autonomous car system. At the time, Cook didn’t confirm whether Apple will end up building its own self-driving car in the future.

"We’ll see where it takes us," he told Bloomberg. "We’re not really saying from a product point of view what we will do.”

However, a report by the New York Times said Apple initially wanted to create its own self-driving car. Disagreements at the leadership level led Apple to discard that idea -- for now. Project Titan ran into trouble when there was a rift over whether Apple should build a fully autonomous car or a semi-autonomous vehicle.

The same report said Apple was set to test its autonomous technology as a campus shuttle service called PAIL, short for Palo Alto to Infinite Loop.

Besides Apple’s interest in autonomous technology, other U.S. companies are looking into self-driving cars, including Tesla, Uber, Google unit Waymo and Lyft, which has partnered with Ford and GM for an autonomous ride-hailing service.