Apple cancels work on electric car, moves team to AI project
- The surprise move marks the end of the multibillion-dollar Project Titan, one of the most ambitious efforts in the tech giant’s history
- Tesla boss Elon Musk celebrated the news on social media with a saluting emoji and a cigarette emoji
Apple is cancelling a decade-long effort to build an electric car, according to people with knowledge of the matter, abandoning one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the company.
The company made the disclosure internally on Tuesday, surprising the nearly 2,000 employees working on the project, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the announcement was not public.
The decision was shared by Apple chief operating officer Jeff Williams, and Kevin Lynch, a vice-president in charge of the effort, according to the people.
The two executives told employees that the project will begin winding down and that many staff on the car team – known as the Special Projects Group, or SPG – will be shifted to the artificial intelligence (AI) division under executive John Giannandrea. Those employees will focus on generative AI projects, an increasingly key priority for the company.
The Apple car team also has several hundred hardware engineers and vehicle designers. It is possible they will be able to apply for jobs on other Apple teams. There will be lay-offs, but it is unclear how many.