Social Media
According to a Bloomberg report, Apple has abandoned its electric car project after investing billions over a decade in an attempt to compete with Tesla.
This decision marks the conclusion of Project Titan, a highly significant and ambitious venture in Apple's history. Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams and Vice President Kevin Lynch disclosed the decision internally on February 27, leaving approximately 2,000 project employees surprised.
Numerous employees from the team, known as the Special Projects Group (SPG), will shift to the artificial intelligence division under the leadership of John Giannandrea. Their focus will now be on generative AI projects.
This development comes when electric vehicle (EV) sales have fallen short of expectations, leading several major car manufacturers to scale back investments and reduce prices. Conversely, the field of artificial intelligence is experiencing a surge, and Apple's reported reallocation of resources may help it narrow the gap with competitors like Microsoft and Google.
While Apple never officially confirmed its long-standing rumoured foray into electric vehicles, it had undertaken various actions over the past decade that indicated a serious commitment to such endeavors. Since 2014, Apple had been hiring automotive executives and, in April 2017, obtained a permit from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to test self-driving vehicles. In 2019, it acquired Drive.ai, a self-driving car startup, and in 2021, Apple recruited a BMW veteran who played a key role in the German carmaker's EV efforts.
Additionally, Apple secured several car patents, including one for a virtual reality system addressing motion sickness and another for real-time tint adjustment on windows.
