After launch delays, feature scale-backs and talent exits, Apple has finally decided to call it a day on its autonomous vehicle dreams and focus on AI.
Apple has hit the brakes on its autonomous electric car project Titan after a decade-long effort to break into the space.
The winding down of Project Titan comes at the expense of hundreds of jobs, according to multiple reports, as Apple shifts its focus to artificial intelligence technologies. Bloomberg reports that some of Titan’s employees will move into the company’s AI division.
First reported yesterday (27 February), the publication said Apple made the disclosure internally to nearly 2,000 employees working on the project which was first started in 2014.
This comes little over a a year after Apple’s self-driving car plans hit some major stumbling blocks with a scheduled launch delayed from next year to 2026 and features scaled back.
While the company had initially envisioned a car with no steering wheel or pedals, along with a limousine-like interior, sources told Bloomberg in December 2022 that the vehicle design was being scaled back to include a steering wheel and pedals and that autonomous features would only be available on highways.
Morale first began to wane in the Project Titan team when Doug Field, who headed the company’s car efforts for three years, left Apple in September 2021. He was replaced by Kevin Lynch, who was responsible for developing the company’s smartwatch project and is currently vice-president of technology.
At the time of Field’s departure, Mark Gurman, journalist and Apple expert, posted on X (then Twitter) that Field’s departure is “probably the largest setback” for the company’s car project and that the expected launch date is “further out now, if ever”.
While this is not good news for the team working on Project Titan, it can help the company allot more time and resources to the development of AI. Microsoft – a first-mover in the AI space that has seen profits soar recently – recently dethroned Apple to become the world’s most valuable company after hitting the 3$trn mark.
Not that Apple’s business has been doing badly.
The company beat Wall Street estimates in its first fiscal quarter earnings report earlier this month after raking in $119.6bn and seeing services revenue reach an all-time high.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said on the earnings call that he is excited to share details of “ongoing work” in artificial intelligence development later this year, particularly in the increasingly competitive field of generative AI.
“Looking forward, the biggest question mark is Apple’s ability to leverage AI and generative AI in differentiating experiences,” said Thomas Husson, principal analyst at Forrester.
“Following the buzz of Samsung’s Galaxy AI launch, Apple is no doubt actively working behind the scenes and will share announcements at its WWDC’s developer conference in June.”
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