Apple has canceled its electric car project after a decade-long, multi-billion-dollar effort to rival Tesla, reports Bloomberg. This is a shocking move because it marks the end of Apple’s Project Titan, which was the company’s most ambitious project in history.
According to Bloomberg, Apple’s senior executives decided to wind down the electric car project in recent weeks. The Chief Executive Officer, Jeff Williams, and the Vice President, Kevin Lynch internally disclosed this decision on February 27, 2024.
Nearly 2000 employees were working on the project, and they were left stunned by this announcement. As the company decided to shut down the project, some employees will be moved to Apple’s Generative AI team which is led by John Giannandrea.
However, this offer won’t be given to all the employees who have been working on the Apple Car project. Some employees might be asked to “apply for jobs on other Apple teams,” and unfortunately, there will be some layoffs as well. At the moment, it’s not clear how many lay-offs will happen.
Earlier this year, several rumors hinted that Apple has scaled back its car project and abandoned its long-running plans to launch a fully automated, driverless car without any pedals or steering wheel. Then, Apple diverted its focus to an electric vehicle that has fewer self-driving features. The vehicle would have been a direct rival to Tesla’s technology. According to the previous plans, Apple’s electric car would make a debut sometime around 2026. However, those plans have now been scrapped completely.