Apple and DMV Have Met Four Times since 2015

Apple executives and senior California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) officials have met a total of four times since 2015, macReports learned via documents requested pursuant to the Public Records Act. The main focus of these meetings was autonomous vehicles.

The first meeting was on 17 August, 2015. This was first reported by Guardian. This was important because this was the first clue that Apple is close to unveiling an autonomous automobile project. The title of the meeting was “Autonomous Vehicle Discussion”. Mike Maletic (Apple) had an hour-long meeting with the department’s self-driving officials who were:

• Bernard Soriano (current role: Chief Information Officer)
• Stephanie Dougherty (current role: Deputy Secretary at CalSTA – California State Transportation Agency)
• Brian Soublet (current role: Deputy Director)
• Andrew Conway (current role: Deputy Director)
• Timothy Corcoran (current role: Occupational Licensing Branch Chief).

The second meeting was held on 24 March 2017. This meeting was important because it occurred just days before Apple received its permit in California to test self-driving cars. We first learned about Apple’s permit via the DMV’s web site on April 14, 2017. This meeting lasted 1 hour. The title of the meeting was “Meeting with Apple”. We do not know who participated in this meeting from Apple but the DMV group was crowded:

• Bernard Soriano (current role: Chief Information Officer)
• Jean Shiomoto (current role: Director)
• Brian Soublet (current role: Deputy Director)
• Kimmy Robinson (current role: Assistant)
• Wesley Goo (current role: Assistant Deputy Director)
• Andrew Conway (current role: Deputy Director)
• Coleen Solomon (current role: Manager of the Sacramento Driver Safety Office)
• Cory Keaulana (current role: Assistant Division Chief)
• William Davidson (current role: Deputy Secretary)
• Sonia Huestis (current role: Deputy Director)
• Stephanie Dougherty (current role: Deputy Secretary at CalSTA – California State Transportation Agency)
• Alicia Fowler (current role: Deputy Secretary and General Counsel)
• James Woodward (current role: Deputy Directory of Communications)

The third meeting was on 18 October 2017. The title of the meeting was “Update Meeting with Apple” It lasted one hour. Steve Kenner from Apple was in this meeting. From the DMV, the following individuals participated:

• Bernard Soriano (current role: Chief Information Officer)
• Jean Shiomoto (current role: Director)
• Brian Soublet (current role: Deputy Director)
• Andrew Conway (current role: Deputy Director)
• Rodney Aoki (current role: Manager)
• Wesley Goo (current role: Assistant Deputy Director)
• Elizabeth Humphreys (current role: Brach Chief)
• Debbie Balluch (current role: Assistant)
• Emily Bisnett (current role: Attorney)
• William Davidson (current role: Deputy Secretary)
• Coleen Solomon (current role: Manager of the Sacramento Driver Safety Office)
• Roger Sato (current role: Attorney)

And the last meeting happened recently as we reported yesterday.

The first three meetings were held at the DMV Headquarters Office in Sacramento, CA. The last meeting took place at Apple’s Headquarters in Cupertino, CA.