It's being reported this morning that Apple has developed the chip modules and packages to be used in its future electric vehicle with an outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) company located in South Korea. The project started last year and is expected to be completed sometime next year. 

It should be noted that China's Jiangsu Changjiang Electronics Technology Co. Ltd (JCET) acquired STATSChipPAC back in 2015.

The OSAT firm developed a module for a chip that operates the autopilot function, much like those used by Tesla. Such chips, which oversee AI computations, usually integrate a neural processing unit, CPU, GPU, memory as well as camera interface among other functions.

Sources said Tesla, when developing its autopilot chip module, used Samsung’s memory and gave the assembly work to JCET STATSChipPAC Korea. Apple was taking a similar route in its project.

The move coincides with the rumor that Taiwan’s Foxconn is reportedly planning to build a dedicated assembly line in Thailand for the Apple Car as preparation for a planned launch in and around 2025.

According to report by The Elec, the project is being led by Apple Korea. The subsidiary was given the bill of material (BOM) rights for the project and chose JCET STATSChipPAC accordingly.