Apple Inc., the iconic iPhone maker, has reportedly decided to terminate its decade-long, clandestine endeavor in the realm of self-driving electric cars, known internally as Project Titan. This revelation comes from sources disclosed to Bloomberg on Tuesday.
Bloomberg News, the first to unveil this development, revealed that several employees engaged in the electric car initiative would be reassigned to Apple’s artificial intelligence (AI) division.
“If it is true, Apple will put more focus on GenAI and that should give investors more optimism about the company’s efforts and ability to compete at a platform level on AI,” remarked Ben Bajarin, CEO of Creative Strategies, a consulting firm.
Over the years, Apple has invested billions in researching the car, internally dubbed Titan and Project 172. The envisioned self-driving Apple EV aimed to rival electric vehicles produced by Tesla and Xiaomi.
Although Apple may have terminated its self-driving electric car project, the highly anticipated SU7 (where ‘SU’ denotes Speed Ultra) from Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi is slated for a global release later this year.
The cessation of Apple’s project aligns with decisions made by major automakers to scale back their Electric Vehicle (EV) initiatives. This shift comes amidst dwindling demand and sales for battery-powered electric vehicles.
