Apple was secretly working on an autonomous car that multiple reports and people close to the matter dubbed it as ‘Project Titan.’ Sadly, after years of pooling resources and talent on the development of this unnamed vehicle, the latest update states that the company is canceling all development, with teams working on this project said to be assigned elsewhere. In short, millions of dollars have gone up in smoke as Apple likely attempted to take on the EV industry but fell short miserably.
Team working on the Apple car project has been shifted to work on generative AI
After working for over a decade on it, Bloomberg reports that Apple has halted development on ‘Project Titan’ because the company apparently believed it was not viable. The technology giant’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Williams, told around 2,000 employees that no more work would be done on the autonomous car, with the report stating that the news came as a surprise for many. With the winding down of the project, several Apple employees will be shifted towards the firm’s artificial intelligence division as it gears up to preview its own version of generative AI later this year.
The employees who previously worked on the unnamed car will now report directly to John Giannandrea, Apple’s head of AI. However, some team members were not so fortunate to be shifted to another division in the company, hinting that they would be laid off, though nothing is confirmed now. Apple CEO Tim Cook has stated in the past that layoffs will be viewed as a last resort, but assuming employees with no background experience except in autonomous vehicles, they will likely have little choice but to depart and say their farewells to their former co-workers.
There were rumors doing the rounds that ‘Project Titan’ would materialize into a product in 2026, and the car would be completely driverless and sport autonomous capabilities. It was reported that the first car would be entirely electric and compete with Tesla, but that was not the case. After all, the development work had been riddled with problems and multiple setbacks, ranging from the change in leadership that shifted focus from one area to another, which pretty much meant that one goal could not be completed at a time.
There is no telling if Apple will restart development work on ‘Project Titan,’ but for the time being, it appears that the company’s expertise in electric cars is not the same as the likes of Tesla, suggesting that it should turn its attention towards more pressing matters.
News Source: Bloomberg