Apple is reportedly planning to close its long-announced multibillion-dollar autonomous electric car project.
Project Titan has been dogged by numerous delays going back ten years.
In January 2024, Apple announced that Project Titan was to be shunted back again to 2028.
In the same month, DJ Novotney, a vice president of hardware engineering, was leaving after nearly 25 years to take a job with electric vehicle maker Rivian.
Apple made the disclosure internally, surprising the nearly 2,000 employees working in the Special Projects Group.
On 27 February 2024, Bloomberg reported that Project Titan, after spending billions of dollars, the ten-year gestation period was to be axed.
Bloomberg reported that Apple would transfer many of these technicians to Apple’s Generative Artificial Intelligence projects.
The plan was for a fully autonomous electric vehicle with a limousine-like interior and voice-guided navigation.
Apple intended for the car to be around $100,000.
However, senior executives were concerned about the vehicle being able to provide the profit margins that Apple typically enjoys on its product range.
Elon Musk celebrated the move. He sent a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) with a saluting emoji.
