Apple’s ambitious automotive project, internally dubbed “Titan” but colloquially referred to as “The Titanic” by many of its team members, was officially been terminated this week.
Now, The New York Times has shared some tidbits on how the Apple car came to be and why it failed.
Unnamed sources familiar with the matter reveal that the initiative, which aimed to rival Tesla and Google’s Waymo, has cost the tech giant over $10 billion US without producing a car.
The project, which underwent several restarts and leadership changes, struggled to find a clear direction, flip-flopping between an electric vehicle and a fully autonomous car. This indecision, coupled with the tough nut to track of trying to solve autonomous driving, led to the project’s eventual demise.
According to insiders, Apple’s executive team announced on Tuesday that the Titan project would be disbanded, with team members being redirected to focus on artificial intelligence advancements, which is what Bloomberg first reported.
However, the vision for an Apple-branded car faced skepticism internally, with concerns over its high production costs and competitive pricing.
Despite initial enthusiasm and significant investment, including discussions with Tesla’s Elon Musk about a potential acquisition, Apple struggled to align its vision with the practicalities of automotive manufacturing and autonomous technology. Apple spent bit to hire high-profile executives and acquired startups, but leadership changes and strategic shifts hampered the process.
Apple will now reassign over 2,000 employees under the car project to focus on generative AI technologies. But not all is lost from what was learned on project “Titan”. Apple might debut A.I.-powered AirPods with cameras, robot assistants and augmented reality, say sources.
It’s clear from the beginning that making a car, producing it at volume and turning a profit is quite difficult. Only two U.S. car companies have not gone bankrupt—Ford and Tesla.
