Apple has decided to abandon its plans of creating an electric car after working on it in secret for about ten years. According to sources with insider information, Apple has reportedly decided to cancel its project codenamed Titan, impacting nearly 2,000 employees.
COO Jeff Williams and VP Kevin Lynch have informed the employees that the project will be gradually ending and many of them will be transferred to the company’s AI division, which is not unexpected considering the current excitement surrounding AI technology. It is still uncertain how many engineers or designers will ultimately lose their jobs.
Project Titan had experienced numerous challenges, including multiple changes in leadership. In 2021, Doug Field, the project’s leader, departed to take on a role at Ford.
Apple scaled back its plans for a self-driving car, going from a fully autonomous vehicle to one with limited autonomy similar to Tesla-style Level 2 autonomy vehicle. Then there’s a notable decline in interest in the EV space, with US automakers indicating they’re facing considerable headwinds in selling fully battery-powered vehicles.
Even at a whopping $100,000 price point, executives had concerns around keeping profit margins high enough. Although it may have been a surprising decision for the tech giant, investors responded positively to the announcement, causing Apple’s stock to rise.
In short, moving those existing resources to generative AI is likely wise — and in many ways, would’ve been wiser years ago 😉
Reference- Bloomberg, Apple website, The Verge, Electrek, Futurism, The Drive, TechSpot