--- description: Tim Cook's new project is neither a secret nor a threat, the CEO says title: Tesla's Elon Musk Says Apple Car Rumors Are True image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt077bf204709e1d88/698878b60b72e363816e79fb/elon-musk.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Tesla's Elon Musk Says Apple Car Rumors Are True by [Robert Hackett / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Robert Hackett / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 12, 2016 2:49 PM CUT  Elon Musk delivers a speech during the Climate Summit for Local Leaders at the Paris Townhall in Paris, on Dec. 4, 2015. Elon Musk delivers a speech during the Climate Summit for Local Leaders at the Paris Townhall in Paris, on Dec. 4, 2015.Mustafa Yalcin—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Robert Hackett / Fortune](/author/fortune/) ## Robert Hackett / Fortune Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 12, 2016 2:49 PM CUT According to Elon Musk, CEO of carmaker Tesla, the rumors are true: Apple plans to enter the automobile business. The CEO described Apple’s rumored foray into designing an electric car as [“obvious”](http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35280633 "undefined") in a recent interview with the BBC. “It’s pretty hard to hide something if you hire over a thousand engineers to do it,” he said. Apple has not officially announced any intention to build such a vehicle, though [reports began surfacing](http://fortune.com/2015/02/13/apple-developing-electric-car/ "undefined") about the prospect last February. The company’s supposedly code-named project “Titan” [has poached talent ](http://fortune.com/2015/08/21/apple-hires-tesla/ "undefined")from a number of automakers, including Tesla. Tellingly, [Apple recently registered](http://fortune.com/2016/01/08/apple-registers-apple-car-domain/ "undefined") a trio of car-related Internet domain names, including Apple.car, Apple.cars, and Apple.auto, according to records published online and discovered by Apple-tracking site _MacRumors_. When asked by Charlie Rose on _CBS’s 60 minutes_ last month whether Apple has designs on the car business, Apple CEO Tim Cook [merely shrugged and laughed](http://fortune.com/tag/apple-electric-car/ "undefined"). In the BBC interview, Musk welcomed Apple to the field. “It will expand the industry,” he said, echoing comments [he has previously made](http://fortune.com/2015/05/07/elon-musk-tesla-cars-apple/ "undefined"). “Tesla will still aspire to make the most compelling electric vehicles, and that would be our goal, while at the same time helping other companies to make electric cars as well.” Previously, Musk has called Apple a “Tesla graveyard.” “They have hired people we’ve fired,” [he told the German newspaper _Handlesblatt_ in Oct](http://fortune.com/2015/10/09/tesla-musk-apple/ "undefined"). “If you don’t make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple. I’m not kidding” Apple did not immediately reply to _Fortune’s_ request for comment about whether it is designing an electric car. _This_ [_article_](http://fortune.com/2016/01/12/elon-musk-tesla-apple-car/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_Fortune.com_](http://fortune.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4176861/elon-musk-apple-car/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4176861/elon-musk-apple-car/"},"headline":"Tesla's Elon Musk Says Apple Car Rumors Are True","datePublished":"2016-01-12T14:49:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:07:15.227Z","description":"Tim Cook's new project is neither a secret nor a threat, the CEO says","url":"https://time.com/4176861/elon-musk-apple-car/","keywords":["Tech","Apple","cars","Business topic","Tim cook","Companies","Elon Musk","Tesla"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt077bf204709e1d88/698878b60b72e363816e79fb/elon-musk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Robert Hackett / Fortune"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt077bf204709e1d88/698878b60b72e363816e79fb/elon-musk.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Climate Summit for Local Leaders in Paris","caption":"Climate Summit for Local Leaders in Paris","creditText":"Mustafa Yalcin—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4176861/elon-musk-apple-car/","name":"Tesla's Elon Musk Says Apple Car Rumors Are True"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Elon Musk Calls Apple A 'Tesla Graveyard'","description":"Tesla CEO Elon Musk says he isn't sweating the Apple car rumors.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/QJ25kqLz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-10-09T14:52:24.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QJ25kqLz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4176861/elon-musk-apple-car/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4176861/elon-musk-apple-car/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```