Apple’s electric car is no longer happening, according to sources who say that the tech giant’s decade-long effort in building one has now been canceled and how some of the teams involved will be moving to Apple’s AI division to work on generative AI projects instead. This marks an end to a plan that began in 2014, a year in which Apple embarked on the development of what was supposed to be a fully autonomous EV.
Highlights:
- The 2,000 employees working on the project were surprised by the announcement
- Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams and Kevin Lynch, a vice president, told them that the project was “winding down”
- Many employees are being moved to the Special Projects Group (SPG), Apple’s AI division for generative AI projects
- Others will be able to apply for jobs elsewhere at Apple, while others will be laid off
- Apple imagined the car being priced at around $100,000
What the car could have looked like, according to fan-made trailers:
Bloomberg noted:
The decision to ultimately wind down the project is a bombshell for the company, ending a multibillion-dollar effort that would have vaulted Apple into a whole new industry. …
…the project struggled nearly from the start, with Apple changing the team’s leadership and strategy several times. Lynch and Williams took over the undertaking a few years ago — following the departure of Doug Field, now a senior executive at Ford Motor Co.