- Apple abandoned its goal of producing electric cars, ending a difficult ten-year project.
- According to Bloomberg, Apple included approximately 2,000 of its employees in the secret automobile development program.
- Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, one of the electric car leaders, quoted a news story on the subject and responded with emojis.
Apple abandoned its goal of producing electric cars, ending a difficult ten-year project, US media reported. The company had involved nearly 2,000 employees in its secret automobile development program. But it has faced an increasingly competitive electric vehicle industry. According to media reports, the goal of “Project Titan”, which started around 2014, was to develop a fully autonomous car. Apple has reportedly invested billions of dollars in the project.
According to reports by Bloomberg and The New York Times based on anonymous sources, the decision to close the automobile project was announced within the company on Tuesday. According to Bloomberg, Apple will transfer many employees from the closed automobile department to productive artificial intelligence projects. Apple has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Apple has never publicly announced its electric vehicle plans, despite information leaking to the media over the years. In 2022, private site The Information published a report detailing the problems faced by the project, including the departure of multiple executives due to lack of support from management. Many US automakers have put the brakes on electric vehicles as demand has slowed in recent months. Self-driving car makers Cruise and Waymo, owned by Google parent company Alphabet, have also struggled to expand their products beyond San Francisco.
Elon Musk’s Tesla, one of the leaders of the electric vehicle industry, also warned that growth will slow down in 2024. In a post on X, Musk responded to the news that Apple had closed its automobile project with greetings and cigarette emojis.
Compiled by: Esin Özcan