Apr 03, 2024 - 20:37
By cnbc.com

Apple reportedly exploring personal home robots

Apple is exploring the development of personal home robots after it ditched its electric vehicle project, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

Engineers at Apple have been looking into a robot that can follow users around their homes and a tabletop device that uses robotics to adjust a display screen, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the research team.

Apple in February shut down its electric vehicle project, called its Special Projects Group, another one of its moonshots. Reports of the secretive program, which employed thousands of employees, first surfaced in 2014 after the company recruited automotive engineers and other relevant roles.

Apple's car project was part of an internal effort to expand into new product markets. In recent years, the company has also invested heavily in products and services like its Apple Watch and Vision Pro virtual reality headset, but the latter will likely take years to create meaningful revenue.

The company's hardware engineering division and its AI and machine learning group are overseeing the work on personal robotics, Bloomberg reported. The work on personal home robots is still in the early research and development phase, according to the report.

Other tech companies have also explored home robots.

Amazon introduced its $1,600 Astro home robot in 2021, which is essentially a smart display on wheels that can answer Alexa commands. Almost three years from its debut, the device remains available in limited quantities on an invite-only basis. An executive overseeing the project departed Amazon last May, and in November, the company launched a version of Astro for businesses akin to a roving security guard.

Apple declined to comment.