Apple has abandoned its secret, long-standing plan to build an autonomous electric car and laid off some employees.
The decision to end the project comes at a time when major automakers are rethinking their investments in electric vehicles, China’s automakers are expanding and there is increasing demand examination autonomous vehicle projects are coming up. Apple originally had around 1,400 employees working on the car project, which was called “Project Titan” started.
Some remaining employees will be moved to Apple’s generative AI projects, while others will have 90 days to find a reassignment to other roles within the company or be laid off. The announcement of the project’s cancellation came in a brief meeting of about 12 minutes led by Apple’s COO Jeff Williams and Vice President Kevin Lynch, which did not allow any questions.
Apple has changed the direction of the project several times over the last decade, between a focus on an all-electric Tesla competitor and a fully autonomous vehicle, similar to Waymo. The decision to abandon the project was not surprising as priorities were constantly changing.
Over the years, several high-level automotive executives passed through Project Titan, including former executives from Tesla, Lamborghini and ford. Most recently, Ulrich Kranz, a former BMW executive who led the i3 program, was headhunted by an EV startup before joining Apple.