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Apple is scuttling its closemouthed , long - running exploit to build an autonomous electric car , executives announced in a short encounter with the team Tuesday break of the day . The fellowship is likely cutting hundreds of employees from the team and all act upon on the project has block , TechCrunch has learned .
Some remaining employee will be switch to Apple ’s productive AI projects , fit in toBloomberg , which first reported the undertaking ’s cancellation . Others will have 90 days to find a reassignment to other roles inside the company , or they will be let go . The car project still had around 1,400 employees work on it , according to one employee who was grant anonymity because they were not authorise to verbalize about their work .
The decision to kill the project comes at a fourth dimension when major car maker are reevaluating their investment in electric vehicles , and amid increase scrutiny on self-directed vehicle projection . Apple ’s entry into the automotive sector was also seen as a potential boon to its bottom job , giving it a new source of revenue to help oneself bolster against stagnatinghardware salesand regulative threats to its services line of work . Apple declined to comment .
Apple first pop working on its car project , have a go at it internally as “ Project Titan , ” in 2014 . At one point , it had around 5,000 proletarian dedicated to the elbow grease . But Apple swivel repeatedly over the last decennary , oscillating between an emphasis on making an all - electric Tesla competitor and a fully self-directed vehicle more consanguineal to what Waymo has created . Most lately , Bloomberg reported inJanuarythat the undertaking ’s leadership was under atmospheric pressure from Apple ’s top executives and its board to find a way to bring something to market earlier than later .
Apple ’s chief operating officer Jeff Williams and the frailty president in charge of Titan , Kevin Lynch , announced the word to the squad Tuesday in a myopic meeting that lasted about 12 proceedings , and did not take questions , according to the employee . While this person described the announcement as abrupt , they said the decision was not , cite the forever shifting priorities .
A number of high - profile automotive executives cycled through Project Titan over the twelvemonth . Most notably , the labor was once run byformer Tesla executive director Doug Field(who eventually leave to take a role at Ford ) . Apple also poach executivesfrom LamborghiniandFord .
In 2021 , ithiredUlrich Kranz , a former BMW executive who helped melt down the i3 program , away from EV inauguration Canoo . Apple once even heldtalks with Canooas it searched the market for contract manufacture partners , rational property , and talent . That hunt also included negotiation withHyundai and Kia .
