Apple Hires Yet Another Autonomous Driving Technology Expert

Rumors that Apple is developing an autonomous car were ramped up further after a report that revealed the company’s recent hiring of Jonathan Cohen, who is now the former director of Nvidia’s CUDA Libraries and Software Solutions machine learning program.

Cohen’s LinkedIn bio page was recently updated to reflect his change of employment from Nvidia to Apple, marking yet another self-driving expert who has been hired by the tech giant, presumably to work on its oft-rumored “Project Titan” car development initiative.

At Nvidia, Cohen served as director of the chipmaker’s Deep Learning Software program where he oversaw the development of the CUDA Platform Libraries and GPU-acceleration software technology. His specific research subjects included bioinformatics and machine learning. Although Nvidia is best known for consumer-targeted computer graphics cards, the company has more recently applied its advanced graphics processing technology to automotive computer vision solutions. Current products include the Nvidia DRIVE PX, a Tegra X1-based GPU that is capable of handling massive amounts of visual data from onboard cameras, enhanced by “deep learning computer vision.”

“Conventional ADAS technology today can detect some objects, do basic classification, alert the driver, and in some cases, stop the vehicle,” explained Cohen. “DRIVE PX takes this to the next level with the ability to differentiate an ambulance from a delivery truck or a parked car from one about to pull into traffic. The system can now inform the driver, not just get their attention with a warning. The car is not just sensing, but interpreting what is taking place around it – an essential capability for auto-piloted driving. The platform uses deep learning, a field of artificial intelligence that attempts to digitally replicate the processes of the human brain to recognize other vehicles, pedestrians, road signs and other conditions, paving the way for autonomous vehicles.”

Cohen joined Nvidia in 2008, after several years of working with computer-generated image technologies in the film industry. In 2007, his team won an Academy Award for technical achievement for its work in fluid simulation, which allows filmmakers to create realistic-looking animations of fluid systems such as gases and liquids. He founded Nvidia’s emerging applications group, which develops software for GPU computing for a wide range of applications.

Apple’s hiring of Cohen, an artificial intelligence expert, certainly furthers the speculation that the company’s . Although the company has yet to confirm the project’s existence, the hiring of talent from Tesla, Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz, among others, definitely makes it appear that Apple is developing a self-driving vehicle behind closed doors.