After ten years, billions of dollars, and numerous changes in leadership, Apple has decided to abandon Project Titan.
The Apple Car project has been abandoned after ten years, billions of dollars, many leadership changes, and dozens of rumours have been circulating about it. The news that Apple has formally cancelled the car was sent to almost 2,000 people who had been working on it on Tuesday, according to a recent story that was published by Mark Gurman of Bloomberg.
As part of the change, Apple will transfer “many employees working on the car” to the company’s artificial intelligence division. There, they will concentrate on generative AI projects, which Apple is anticipated to share more information about later this year, according to a statement that was made by CEO Tim Cook during the earnings call that took place earlier this month. Nevertheless, the automobile team consisted of hundreds of hardware engineers and automobile designers. According to Bloomberg, some of these individuals will be able to submit applications for jobs in other departments of the corporation. It seems anticipated that the remaining employees will be terminated.
Apple’s efforts to construct a vehicle, which are internally referred to as Project Titan, have never been discussed in public by the company. However, over the course of several years, a number of leaks revealed that the corporation had its sights set on expanding into a totally new product area in which it had no prior experience. When Apple first started working on this project in 2014, the company’s goal was to create a fully autonomous vehicle that did not have pedals or a steering wheel and was equipped with a remote command centre that was ready to take over for a human driver. However, it has been reported that Apple has reduced its aspirations during the past few years. unique rumours stated that Apple’s car, which may make its debut in 2028, will be an electric vehicle that is more comparable to a Tesla than something altogether unique. These reports were made as recently as the previous month.
In addition, there were numerous leadership changes that occurred during Project Titan. After Doug Field, the former leader of Project Titan, left for Ford in 2021, Apple appointed Kevin Lynch, the executive who had previously overseen the development of the Apple Watch, to head the automotive division. Mr Lynch was assigned to this position.
Reportedly, Apple had considered setting the price of the vehicle at approximately $100,000, which is comparable to the price of a high-end Tesla Model X. However, according to reports, Apple management were concerned about the profit margins provided by that price. According to Bloomberg, the business has worked on “powertrains, self-driving hardware and software, car interiors and exteriors, and other key components” during the course of its history. This decision represents a rare setback for the corporation.