蘋果首度公開承認無人駕駛汽車研發計劃

Apple has for the first time publicly acknowledged its plans to develop self-driving cars, with a letter that urges the US highways regulator to promote “fair competition” between newcomers to the automotive industry and traditional manufacturers.

蘋果公司(Apple)首度公開承認開發自動駕駛汽車的計劃，該公司致函美國公路監管機構，呼籲促進汽車行業新入行企業和傳統制造商之間的“公平競爭”。

In an unusually direct statement accompanying the letter, an Apple spokesman confirmed its work on autonomous systems that could be used to transform “the future of transportation”.

在伴隨該信件的一份異常直接的聲明中，一位蘋果發言人確認，蘋果在自動系統領域進行了開發工作，可能被用來改變“交通運輸業的未來”。

Apple’s letter touts the “significant societal benefits of automated vehicles”, which it described as a life-saving technology, potentially preventing millions of car crashes and thousands of fatalities each year.

蘋果的信讚揚了“自動汽車的重大社會效益”，稱這是一種拯救生命的技術，有望每年防止數百萬起車禍和成千上萬的死傷。

The disclosure highlights how Apple may struggle to maintain its notorious secrecy in new product development as it enters more highly regulated markets, from transportation to healthcare.

蘋果的這一信息披露凸顯出，隨着該公司進入從交通到醫療等監管較嚴格的市場，它或許難以維持其在新產品開發上出了名的保密做法。

Hundreds of Apple staff have been working on an electric car for more than two years, people familiar with the project say. The Financial Times first reported the secret research lab, which is based outside its Cupertino headquarters in neighbouring Sunnyvale, in February last year.

據知情人士透露，數百名蘋果員工已經在一款電動汽車上工作了兩年多時間。英國《金融時報》去年2月最先報道了這個祕密研發實驗室的存在，該實驗室不在蘋果的庫比蒂諾(Cupertino)總部，而是在鄰近的森尼維爾(Sunnyvale)。

Since then, despite leaks about the project’s sometimes difficult progress, Apple executives have refused to admit that the automotive initiative exists.

此後，儘管有時傳出該項目進展艱難的消息，但蘋果高管一直拒絕承認汽車項目的存在。

That position will be harder to maintain after the publication of a letter from Apple to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, as part of the regulator’s regular dialogue with manufacturers about its rules for the fast-developing technology. The letter was signed by Steve Kenner, Apple’s director of product integrity, and was submitted on November 22.

在蘋果致美國國家公路交通安全管理局(NHTSA)的信件發表後，蘋果將更難以維持這一口徑。這封信屬於該監管機構與製造商就其針對這項快速發展技術的規則進行的定期溝通。蘋果產品完整性總監史蒂夫.肯納(Steve Kenner)在信上簽字，信件寄遞時間是11月22日。

“Apple uses machine learning to make its products and services smarter, more intuitive, and more personal,” Mr Kenner writes. “The company is investing heavily in the study of machine learning and automation, and is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation.”

“蘋果利用機器學習使其產品和服務更智能、更直觀、更個性化，”肯納寫道：“蘋果公司正大力投資於機器學習和自動化研究，並對自動系統在多個領域的潛力感到振奮，包括交通運輸業。”