According to Bloomberg, Apple’s long-rumored electric car project, Project Titan, has officially been terminated, resulting in staff reductions.
Sources familiar with the matter stated that Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Williams, and the head of Project Titan, Kevin Lynch, sent a message to the team this week informing them of the decision. Some team members will be reassigned to the Generative AI division, while others will have 90 days to seek positions within other departments of the company or opt for a severance package. Bloomberg notes that this downsizing effort allows Apple to concentrate its resources on developing AI and the smart head-wearable device, Vision Pro.
Apple has declined to comment on the matter.
Rumors of Apple’s foray into electric car development have circulated for years, although the company has never confirmed them. Media reports first emerged in 2015 regarding Apple’s development of an electric vehicle with autonomous driving capabilities under Project Titan, initially slated for release in 2020.
However, Project Titan faced numerous challenges, including executive reshuffles, personnel changes, and restructuring, resulting in multiple delays in the car’s launch, with projected release dates pushed from 2021 to 2024 and then to 2028. During this period, there were also reports of Apple recruiting high-profile individuals from established automakers to lead the project, including Ulrich Kranz, key figure behind BMW’s i3, and Doug Field from Tesla. In 2021, it was reported that Kevin Lynch, previously responsible for Apple Watch, took over Project Titan, with indications that the focus shifted from building a car to developing autonomous driving systems.
TechCrunch reports that Project Titan once had as many as 5,000 employees, but after several project changes, the team currently consists of approximately 1,400 employees.
Evidently, the ongoing wave of layoffs in the tech industry this year has forced Apple to make tough decisions. While companies like Google and Microsoft are aggressively pursuing Generative AI, Apple CEO Tim Cook has pledged to deploy Generative AI within the company this year. Industry analysts speculate that Apple has acquired 32 AI startups to accelerate its AI research and development efforts.
Image source: CNBC