Why Apple canceled its electric car project
Apple has pulled the plug on its secretive autonomous electric car project, dubbed "Project Titan," as revealed by company executives during a brief meeting with the team. Apple's COO Jeff Williams and VP Kevin Lynch announced the project's termination to the employees. The meeting lasted 12 minutes and no questions were taken by the bosses. TechCrunch reports that this decision may lead to hundreds of employees being laid off, and all work on the project has come to a halt.
Employee reassignments and layoffs
A portion of the remaining Project Titan employees will transition to Apple's generative AI projects, while others have 90 days to secure a reassignment within the company or face termination. An anonymous employee, who was not authorized to discuss their work, stated that around 1,400 employees were involved in the car project at the time of its cancellation. The anonymous employee described the announcement as sudden but not entirely unexpected due to the project's constantly shifting priorities.
Project Titan's history and early vision
To recall, Project Titan began in 2014, with as many as 5,000 workers dedicated to the effort at its peak. The project witnessed several high-profile automotive executives join and depart, including former Tesla executive Doug Field and former BMW executive Ulrich Kranz. Initially, the project involved an autonomous electric car with interiors comparable to a luxurious limousine. The futuristic, self-driving capabilities would have witnessed the absence of a steering wheel along with no brakes, clutch and accelerator pedals.
How the project evolved over the years?
Notably, Apple started testing its self-driving technology around 2017 using a Lexus SUV. However, the tech giant decided to do away with the car's radical design sans steering wheel to a more conventional EV with Level-2 ADAS support. The project to create an electric car was supposed to diversify Apple's sources of revenue amid stagnant hardware sales. Now, Apple's decision to wrap up its secret project also coincides with automakers around the world reconsidering their investments in electric vehicles.
Apple lagging behind in AI race
Experts believe that the penetration of artificial intelligence is a major factor that prompted Apple to shut down its autonomous car project. Compared to rivals like Samsung, Google, and Microsoft, the iPhone maker has almost nothing to offer in the AI realm. Microsoft has also surpassed Apple as the world's most valuable company. Apple's decision to move away from cars and focus on generative AI is seen as a good move given its potential for long-term profitability and varied applications.
