Apple Slams the Brakes on the Apple Car, Pivots to AI

Reading Time: 2 minutes

TL;DR:

• Apple is abruptly ending their Apple Car project, called ‘Project Titan’, after investing over $5 billion and close to 10 years on the effort
• Strategy pivots were constant and progress was stymied as Apple struggled to decide what kind of car to build
• Apple is reassigning the nearly 2,000 Project Titan team members into its fast-growing AI/ML division instead

It’s the end of the road for Apple‘s auto ambitions. After over a decade of work and billions of dollars invested, the tech giant is shutting down Project Titan – its semi-secretive effort to design and build an autonomous electric vehicle. Apple is now pivoting those resources into accelerating its artificial intelligence efforts instead.

The bombshell news that Apple was shutting down its electric car program concludes a rocky journey that never reached fruition.

Apple Car Project Timeline

Work on the Apple EV first began around 2014, with Apple setting hugely ambitious goals like fully self-driving capabilities and breakthrough battery technology. The project hired staff numbering nearly 2,000, including poached talent from Tesla and other carmakers. Teams of hardware engineers worked on developing next-generation LIDAR sensors and new computational platforms.

Project Titan Strategy Issues

Yet, Project Titan struggled immensely to set a clear direction. Strategy pivots came constantly from Apple’s leadership. They just couldn’t decide what kind of iCar to build, with plans fluctuating from a fully-autonomous robotaxi to a consumer vehicle. The team burned through billions of dollars while suffering repeated failures in development and technology.

So after another strategy revamp and more organizational shakeups over the past year, Apple finally pulled the plug on the iCar. Insiders say CEO Tim Cook and other leaders lost faith that the Apple electric car could ever deliver both game-changing innovation and the fat profit margins Apple thrives on. The reported $100,000 target pricing was dubious for mainstream adoption. And the evolving regulatory challenges around autonomous driving likely heightened barriers to entry.

Apple Reassigns Apple Electric Car Project Team To Company’s AI Efforts

While Apple hasn’t confirmed details of the shutdown, it is reportedly reassigning most Project Titan staff to its fast-growing AI division instead. This allows Apple to double down in domains like conversational AI where it already has proven strengths. And Tim Cook himself has been vocal about AI’s “profound opportunities” across areas like healthcare, education, manufacturing – not just cars.

The End Of The Road For The iCar

So no Apple Car is coming… ever. But for Apple, this failure still represents a rare yet invaluable learning experience. It reveals hard truths about the extreme difficulty of building vehicles versus smartphones. And it re-focuses Apple’s unmatched innovation engine into AI – potentially its next era-defining platform beyond the iPhone. The road ahead remains as challenging and exciting as ever.

Here’s a brief summary of this article in Chinese for our international readers:

Apple原本的计划雄心勃勃。这个项目雇佣了近2000名员工。软件和硬件工程师们一直在开发新的激光雷达传感器,更先进的车载计算平台。然而,苹果在制定清晰的战略方向上却举步维艰。高层领导不断改变计划,从全自动驾驶出租车到面向消费者的电动车,战略总在变。在此期间,研发进程屡屡受挫,数十亿美元烧毁殆尽。

After burning billions on Project Titan over 10 years without ever nearing production, the Apple Car project hits a dead end as Apple shifts high-powered engineering talent to #AI instead of #AppleCar Share on X