Apple Now Has More Self-Driving Permits In California Than Google Or Tesla

It has only been a few months since Apple has publicly admitted that it was getting into the self-driving car game, though, rumors alluding to this fact had been swirling for years prior to that. Now, however, the company just stated that it has gotten a lot of permits to test its technology in California. In fact, it has been given more permits than either Google’s Waymo division and Tesla.

In an email to Mac Reports, it would appear that Apple had gotten 55 vehicle permits and 83 driver permits from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to operate in the state. In terms of sheer numbers, this puts the technology giant second only to General Motors, with the car manufacturer having 104 vehicle permits and 407 driver permits.

This is a staggering development, mostly because as of March last year, Apple didn’t have a single permit. It took less than a year for the iPhone maker to get to where it is now, although, specifics as to what exactly it is doing with these permits are still scarce.

As Fortune notes, Apple has been particularly silent with regards to its self-driving tests compared to other companies. Tesla and Waymo, for example, have been openly flaunting their achievements in the area. This is despite the fact that the tech giants only have 39 vehicle permits and 92 driver permits, and 51 vehicle permits and 338 driver permits respectively.

With regards to the actual business model that Apple will be using with regards to its self-driving cars, however, it would seem that the company is more interested in following Waymo’s example. Basically, it might start selling its technology to car manufacturers, which will then use it to build their own self-driving car fleets. This is in stark contrast to the previous rumors that it might be building its own vehicle.