Just as Google is shutting down its efforts to build its own self-driving cars, Apple is ramping up its own autonomous vehicle development.

Until now, Apple has remained out of the self-driving car fray. CEO Tim Cook changed that when he told Bloomberg that Apple is working on a massive AI project before it applies it to any cars. Cook did not confirm if Apple would build its own cars or partner with other car companies.Apple autonomous self-driving car

At the same time, Google has just shut down “Firefly,” its flagship self-driving car. The car had no steering wheel or foot pedals and maxed out at a speed of 25 mph. The company that partnered with Google for this project, Waymo, has turned to modifying minivans for Chrysler, hoping “to bring fully self-driving technology to more people, more quickly.”

The push for self-driving cars has been slow-going over the past few years, particularly because regulators are squeamish about approving cars without steering wheels as safe for the road. In addition, the cost of building new driverless cars is too much to make the project feasible for a large-scale rollout.

For now, it looks like the future of the driverless car is in modification. If driverless cars catch on, it will be a slow process, much like the way that Tesla started out as a luxury vehicle before it became widely available.

Text image via Bloomberg.