Apple has scrapped its intentions to launch a self-driving electric car, a project that had been under development for almost ten years.
Based on a person briefed on the discussion, who requested anonymity because the announcement was not public, the company informed employees in an internal meeting on Tuesday that it had shelved the project and that members of the group would be shifted to different roles, including in Apple’s artificial intelligence division.
According to the individual, Kevin Lynch, an executive who worked on the automobile project, will be reporting to John Giannandrea, the head of artificial intelligence strategy at the firm, as part of the restructure.
Apple said it would not comment. Bloomberg had earlier broken the story that Apple was discontinuing its auto program.
Apple had not revealed their automobile to the public, but since it was being tested on public roads, it had been one of Silicon Valley’s worst-kept secrets for a long time. Apple rarely cancels initiatives of this magnitude since it usually doesn’t shelve projects with this level of public attention.
The company has had difficulty in recent years in identifying fresh growth opportunities since the market has become saturated with its crucial iPhone and consumers are not replacing their phones as frequently as they once did.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has made it known that the company is considering getting into the auto industry. Additionally, the business has been conducting long-term public testing of hundreds of cars with autonomous driving capabilities. Internally known as Titan and Project 172, the car proved to be a difficult product to create, resulting in the closure of some divisional operations, the reworking and scrapping of plans, and the layoff of numerous employees.
Apple invested billions of dollars in the development of the vehicle, which was meant to compete with Tesla’s electric cars, which have features for autonomous driving.
The product was crucial to Mr. Cook’s legacy because it dispelled the idea that Apple was no longer capable of inventing new ideas and creating the next big thing. The company has launched a limited number of new hardware products under Mr. Cook’s direction, such as the HomePod smart speaker, which was a failure, the $3,500 Vision Pro goggles that it released this month to compete with Meta’s virtual reality headsets, and the Apple Watch, which currently leads the smartwatch market.
The business has made significant investments in creating new technology. It has invested $113 billion in research and development over the past five years.
