Apple has abandoned the development of electric car production, American media reported. Apple employed 2,000 people in its secretive car development program, but faced increasingly tough competition from electric vehicle manufacturers.
The goal of “Project Titan”, which started around 2014, was to develop an autonomous car. The decision to close the project was announced internally on Tuesday, Bloomberg and The New York Times reported, citing unnamed sources.
Apple has reportedly invested billions of dollars in the project. Apple has never publicly announced its plans for electric vehicles, despite constant leaks from the media over the years.
In 2022, specialist site The Information published a report detailing problems facing the project, including the departure of several executives due to a lack of leadership support. Sales of several American electric car makers have suffered in recent months as demand has weakened.
Autonomous car makers Cruise and Waymo, which are owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, are also struggling to expand their products beyond San Francisco. Elon Musk’s Tesla, one of the leaders in the electric vehicle industry, also warned of slower growth in 2024.
In a post on X, Musk responded to the news that Apple was shutting down its electric car project with emojis showing a greeting and holding a cigarette. Apple will move many employees from the electric car division to generative artificial intelligence (AI) projects, Hina reported.
