The Apple Car is over. According to information from Mark Gurman, the Apple firm’s electric car project has been canceled. “Apple made this revelation internally on Tuesday”, writes the Bloomberg journalist.
According to him, Apple employees revealed that the decision was announced to the teams by Jeff Williams, director of operations and Kevin Lynch, vice president in charge of Apple Car, “causing surprise among the approximately 2,000 employees working on the project”.
We learn in passing that the talents who developed the Apple electric car will be transferred to Apple’s artificial intelligence section, headed by John Giannandrea.
They will focus on generative AI, “an increasingly important priority for the company”. The next updates of Apple’s operating systems, including iOS 18, should indeed provide multiple features taking advantage of AI.
Regarding this reshuffle, Anurag Rana and Andrew Girard, analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence, believe that Apple made the right choice in redirecting its resources towards generative AI.
About the “several hundred” of automotive engineers and designers, Mark Gurman emphasizes that they will be able to apply to be transferred to other Apple teams. He adds that the end of the Apple Car project will also involve layoffs, without providing precise figures on this subject.