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Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk is trying to make nice with Apple after a German newspaper printed his scathing comments about the company's automotive efforts, tweeting "Yo, I don't hate Apple."
Earlier this week, when asked about the engineers that Apple had hired away from Tesla, Musk told the Handelsblatt that his team "jokingly call Apple the 'Tesla Graveyard'" because only employees who couldn't "make it" at Tesla would leave.
He also said that although the electric car that Apple is reportedly working on is "the next logical thing" for the hardware giant to tackle, he added that "cars are very complex compared to phones or smartwatches." (When asked whether he took Apple's ambitions seriously, he joked, "Did you ever take a look at the Apple Watch?")
Today's tweet resonates more closely with his past comments: Musk said during Tesla's first quarter earnings call that it would be "great" if Apple got into the car business.
Business Insider first heard that Apple was getting into the electric car business back in February, when an employee told us, "I think it will change the landscape and give Tesla a run for its money."
Since then, numerous reports have come out confirming Apple's interest in the space, and apparently the company gave the project a full go-ahead last month, with plans to build its first cars in 2019.
The first Apple Car will probably not drive itself, but Apple has recently been snapping up artificial intelligence companies, and some of that technology — like Perceptio's technology that recognizes images — could be extremely useful. Silicon Valley insiders are coming around to the idea that self-driving cars are inevitable, although there's still disagreement on what kind of vehicles will first get that treatment.
Here's the tweet (EV stands for electric vehicle):
Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/652605371857530880
Yo, I don't hate Apple. It's a great company with a lot of talented people. I love their products and I'm glad they're doing an EV.
Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/652607370921570304
Regarding the watch, Jony & his team created a beautiful design, but the functionality isn't compelling yet. By version 3, it will be.
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SEE ALSO: A former Tesla employee weighs in on Elon Musk's slam that Apple hires only its worst engineers
