Apple was working on an electric vehicle (EV) to rival Tesla and its ilk, but according to Bloomberg, which cited anonymous sources “with knowledge of the matter,” the Cupertino-based tech giant is now, er, steering away from the project.
Apple’s car plans were in development for a decade, but in a shock announcement from Apple COO Jeff Williams and Vice President of Technology Kevin Lynch, the iPhone maker told nearly 2,000 employees that the EV project is now scrapped.
Apple reportedly ditches EV plans
Apple is reportedly prioritizing artificial intelligence (AI), and as such, some employees on the EV team (codenamed “Special Projects Group”) will be transferred to the AI division, which is fine-tuning the company’s generative AI ambitions.
Others, however, won’t be as fortunate. “There will be layoffs, but it’s unclear how many,” Bloomberg said, insinuating that engineers from the Special Projects Group will be most at risk for termination.
As the New York Times pointed out, although Apple’s EV (called “Project Titan”) was kept hush-hush from consumers, it was the company’s “worst-kept secret,” because the Cupertino-based tech giant was testing the car publicly. Project Titan was set to have self-driving capabilities, a limousine-esque interior, and voice-based navigation.
5 reasons Apple scrapped its EV
Project Titan was a multi-billion dollar effort that Apple had been working on since 2014. However, Apple reportedly made the decision to pull the plug for five reasons, according to Bloomberg.
The strategy for Apple’s EV car is built on a house of cards; it’s constantly changing with no consistent plan nor approach.
There has been a revolving door of leadership. In other words, the turnover rate for people at the helm of Project Titan leadership was reportedly high.
The EV is still years away from hitting the proverbial store shelves, which concerned Apple. It was spending “hundreds of millions of dollars a year” on a car that may never come to market, Bloomberg said.
Self-driving technology is tricky and challenging.
The EV market has been stagnating due to poor charging infrastructure, which soured Apple’s optimism.
However, if any company can revive an industry, it’d be Apple. As a VR enthusiast, I’ve noticed a surge of AR/VR interest with the release of Apple Vision Pro unlike what I’ve seen before (despite the Meta Quest 3‘s envelope-pushing capabilities).
Apple’s EV was reportedly poised to be priced at around $100,000. Project Titan staffers who remain after the layoffs will work under John Giannandrea, Apple’s senior vice president of Machine Learning and AI Strategy.
