Apple’s Jony Ive and Tesla CEO Elon Musk were acting pretty chummy at a party following the Academy Awards Sunday night, reports AppleInsider. The publication says that the pair were “basically inseparable” at Madonna’s A-list afterparty, and exited together around 5am.
The conversation is interesting to us given the recent chatter that Apple is building an electric car. While we doubt they talked about automotive design all night, it seems unlikely that two of Silicon Valley’s most influential people spent the entire night discussing the weather.
The meeting is also of note given reports of a poaching war going on between Apple and Tesla Motors. In an interview earlier this month, Musk said that Apple has been aggressively recruiting employees from the electric car maker, offering as much as $250K signing bonuses.
Of course, all of this should be taken with a grain of salt. Apple’s rumored Titan car project is still—well, a rumor—and AppleInsider has been incorrect in the past. The site provides evidence that its source attended the party, but there are no photos of Ive and Musk together.
Reports regarding Apple’s car plans have picked up in recent weeks, with Bloomberg claiming a 2020 deadline. Earlier this week, a lengthy profile of Ive in The New Yorker further fueled rumors with a quote from the designer on his disappointment in modern car designs.
Source: AppleInsider
Top photo: Jony Ive and his wife Heather Pegg