A decade of car-making defeated by the AI wave? Apple reportedly cancels electric car project, team shifts focus to generative AI.

Recent news indicates that Apple's nearly decade-long car project may not withstand the temptation of the artificial intelligence (AI) trend, as the project team may switch to AI research. On Tuesday, February 27th, Eastern Time, media cited insiders revealing that Apple internally disclosed the cancellation of the electric car project, surprising nearly 2,000 employees involved in the project. The cancellation was reportedly decided by Apple's Chief Operating Officer (COO) Jeff Williams and the project's Vice President Kevin Lynch. They informed employees that the car project would gradually come to an end, with many employees from the "Special Project Group" (SPG) team transitioning to Apple's AI department led by John Giannandrea, focusing on Apple's increasingly important generative AI projects. Additionally, there are hundreds of hardware engineers and car designers in Apple's car team. They may be able to apply for positions in other Apple teams. There will be layoffs at Apple, but the exact number is unclear. Apple declined to comment on the above news. Following the news, Apple's stock price rebounded during Tuesday's midday trading session, initially dropping nearly 0.9% and then rising over 1.5% before closing up about 0.8%, marking a recovery from a two-day decline since November 6, 2023. If the news is true, it would mean the end of Apple's multi-billion-dollar car-making efforts. Prior to this, Apple's secretive car project had faced development obstacles and delays in the launch of new car plans. Wall Street News mentioned that Apple's car-making history dates back to 2014 when Cook approved the launch of the Titan project, recruiting talent from Google, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, and other companies, forming a core team with a blend of Silicon Valley and automotive industry genes. By the end of 2019, Apple had poached over 300 people from Tesla. However, due to Apple's wavering car-making direction and lack of concrete partnerships, many executives involved in the Titan project left, causing the project to stall multiple times. In March 2022, bad news emerged about Apple's car project. Ming-Chi Kuo, a renowned analyst known for accurate Apple product predictions, stated that the Apple Car team had been disbanded for some time. To start mass production of the Apple Car in 2025, a team restructuring would need to take place within 3 to 6 months. By December 2022, the Titan project underwent a significant transformation. Reports at the time revealed that Apple had postponed the target launch of its electric car by about a year, shifting it to 2026. The Titan project had been in a state of uncertainty for months, as executives faced the reality that creating a fully autonomous vehicle without a steering wheel and pedals was unfeasible given the current technological environment. According to the media at the time, Apple lowered its expectations for autonomous driving capabilities, opting to include a steering wheel and pedals in the car, and only supporting fully autonomous driving on highways. This meant that the planned Level 5 autonomy of the self-driving system was downgraded to Level 4. In September 2023, Ming-Chi Kuo made pessimistic remarks, stating that Apple's car project had "vanished without a trace." The best solution to start production "in the coming years" would be to enter the automotive market through acquiring a car manufacturer. Without such a move, he doubted Apple could mass-produce cars within several years. In January of this year, media reports revealed that Apple is developing more basic driving assistance features, comparable to Tesla's current autonomous driving capabilities, using a Level 2 system, a further downgrade from the previous Level 4. Despite this, Apple has once again postponed the target release date for its car, now aiming for a debut no earlier than 2028. In other words, the planned car launch has been delayed by another two years.