When it comes to new products or entirely new categories, Apple (AAPL) is known for taking a slow and steady approach. This means a wait for that market to mature and for Apple to deliver something unique and highly functional. The technology giant won’t just rush in like some other brands, as made evident by its launch of a headset years after Meta and Sony.
It’s also a company unafraid to call a halt to a project if it feels its not working. According to a new Bloomberg report, Apple has done just that by canceling its project to build an electric car. It’s been a long-rumored project and likely one of the most ambitious in the company’s history.
“Apple made the disclosure internally Tuesday, surprising the nearly 2,000 employees working on the project, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the announcement wasn’t public,” the report reads. Apple’s Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wiliams, and Kevin Lynch, a vice president leading the project, shared the decision with the team, noting that the project is winding down and that some employees will be moving to work on the artificial intelligence division that’s led by John Giannadrea, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Machine Learning and AI Strategy.
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That’s a key switch as, for the most part, Apple has not publicly announced anything in the AI world, specifically generative AI. Most of these leaps have been made by other brands like OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and even Amazon. It is a key area of focus for the company, though, and one we expect to hear about at Apple’s annual World Wide Developer Conference, which typically occurs in the first half of June.
Apple’s AI work will likely be featured on a broad range of devices baked into iOS for iPhone, iPadOS for iPad, macOS for Mac desktops and MacBooks, as well as tvOS for Apple TV, and watchOS for the Apple Watch, as well as services. Recently, with the launch of Apple Sports, there is some AI behind the scenes for recommendations.
The Bloomberg report notes that not everyone will be moved to work on artificial intelligence: “The Apple car team also has several hundred hardware engineers and car designers. It’s possible that they will be able to apply for jobs on other Apple teams. There will be layoffs, but it’s unclear how many.”
It’s a big decision for Apple to stop working on the electric car as it would have been a major introduction into a new industry for the technology giant. Additionally, it’s been an area of investment for years, with reports that Apple was working on an electric vehicle dating back to 2014 and additional reports since then. The rumored Apple car was poised to be a high-end, luxury vehicle with a high level of full self-driving.
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A Apple logo is seen on the back of an iPhone X in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on March 5, 2019. (Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
