Apple has decided not to move forward with its project to launch an electric car that could drive itself. This product has been developed secretly for almost ten years.
At an internal meeting held on Tuesday, the company disclosed to its staff that the project had been terminated. Those who were involved in the project would be given new responsibilities, with some being placed in Apple’s artificial intelligence department. This information was relayed by an anonymous source, as the official announcement had not yet been made.
During the reorganization, Kevin Lynch, a manager who worked on the car project, will now be reporting to John Giannandrea, the head of artificial intelligence strategy at the company.
Apple chose not to provide a comment on the matter. Bloomberg was the first to report the news that Apple had decided to abandon its plans for a car.
Even though Apple had not officially released its car to the public, the project had been widely known within Silicon Valley for years due to testing on public roads. The decision to cancel the project is uncommon for Apple, as they usually do not abandon such public and well-known ventures.
In the past few years, the company has faced challenges in expanding its business as the market for its main product, the iPhone, has become saturated. Additionally, people are not upgrading their phones as often as they once did, making it harder for the company to find innovation.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, has hinted at the possibility of the company entering the car industry. Apple has been testing self-driving vehicles on public roads for an extended period, under the projects Titan and Project 172. The development of the car has encountered challenges including division closures, changes in plans, and layoffs of employees.
Apple invested a significant amount of money in researching a car meant to compete with Tesla’s electric vehicles, which come equipped with self-driving technology.
It was important for Mr. Cook to introduce new products to maintain Apple’s reputation for innovation. Under his leadership, Apple launched several hardware products, including the successful Apple Watch. However, not all products, like the HomePod, were as well-received. Recently, Apple also entered the virtual reality market with the Vision Pro goggles, priced at $3,500, to rival Meta’s headsets.
The company has dedicated significant resources to creating and improving new technologies. Over the past five years, they have invested $113 billion into research and development.
