Apple is abandoning its secretive and long-running self-driving electric car program, according to Bloomberg. TechCrunch has learned that the company has begun laying off some people involved in the project.
The scope of the layoffs could not immediately be determined. According to Bloomberg, many of the nearly 2,000 employees still working on the project will be transferred to Apple’s generative artificial intelligence project.
The decision to end the program comes as major automakers are reassessing investments in electric vehicles and amid growing scrutiny of autonomous vehicle plans. Apple’s entry into the automotive industry is also seen as potentially beneficial to its bottom line, providing it with a new revenue stream to help it cope with stagnant hardware sales and regulatory threats to its services business. Apple declined to comment.
Apple first began its car project in 2014, known internally as “Project Titan.” However, the project has swung back and forth over the past decade, oscillating between an emphasis on building an all-electric Tesla competitor and a more similar fully autonomous vehicle. Created by Waymo. Most recently, Bloomberg reported in January that the project’s leadership was facing pressure from top Apple executives and its board of directors to find a way to get the product to market quickly.
This story is developing…
