Apple is reportedly moving on from cars to… robots? After nixing its electric vehicle project in February, the iPhone maker is now eyeing personal robots that could follow you around your home, according to a report from Bloomberg.
The project is reportedly in its early stages, and it’s not clear if the products will ever become a reality. But now that Apple has called off its decade-long effort to build an electric car, home robots could be the company’s “next big thing,” people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
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Apple didn’t respond to CNET’s request for comment.
In recent years, the tech giant has been exploring new ways to bring in revenue, especially as people hold onto their phones longer. It’s branched out into subscription-based services like Apple TV Plus and Apple Music, and released entirely new products like the Apple Vision Pro — which, with a $3,500 price tag and not much to offer out of the gate, will likely take years to achieve widescale adoption.
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But home robotics could offer the company a new way to leverage artificial intelligence and have a foothold in people’s homes, Bloomberg notes. Along with a mobile robot, Apple has reportedly developed “an advanced table-top home device that uses robotics to move a display around,” the publication notes. That smart display is reportedly further along than the mobile robot, and “has been added and removed from the company’s product road map over the years,” according to the report, as executives have disagreed on whether to even pursue that product.
While Apple has been taking things slow when it comes deploying AI in its products and services, it could leverage any advancements in that area to boost its rumored robotics offerings. If the company did ultimately launch a home bot, it would join the ranks of Amazon’s $1,600 Astro robot, which can deliver snacks, patrol your home and follow you around while you’re on a video call.
Apple has similarly envisioned having its robot work as a videoconferencing tool that can navigate on its own, according to Bloomberg, and has even pitched the idea of having it do chores like washing dishes. Whether or not these more ambitious functions — or even the robots themselves — see the light of day is unclear. But if they do, it’ll likely be several years before you have an Apple robot roaming your home.
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