London (CNN) � Apple has abandoned decade-long efforts to , according to multiple media reports, calling time on a project that some saw as potentially transformative for the auto industry.
Many employees working on the project, known internally as “Project Titan,� will be moved to the company’s artificial intelligence division, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the decision citing people with knowledge of the matter. CNN has contacted Apple () for comment.
The news comes as electric vehicle (EV) sales have , prompting several major carmakers to pull back on investments and slash prices. AI, on the other hand, is and Apple’s reported shift in resources could help it close the gap with rivals such as Microsoft and Google, which have stolen a march on the breakthrough technology.
“The tech giant is following a trend, with investors� enthusiasm for electric vehicle investments waning, amid the frenzy for all things AI,� said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at UK-based investing platform Hargreaves Lansdown.
“It’s vital that Apple stays one step ahead in developing the tech people crave, to justify its products� high price points, so fully exploring the opportunities AI presents for its future ranges is essential,� she wrote in a note Wednesday.
‘Transformative� for the auto industry
The iPhone maker never confirmed that it would make an EV, but had taken several steps over the past 10 years that suggested it was serious about such efforts.
Apple had been hiring automotive executives since at least 2014 and, in April 2017, it received a from the California Department of Motor Vehicles to test self-driving vehicles. Two years later, it acquired Drive.ai, a self-driving car startup. And in 2021, Apple hired a BMW veteran who had steered the German carmaker’s EV efforts.
It also secured several car-related patents, including for a virtual reality system to address motion sickness, and  for adjusting the tint on a window in real time.
Some experts have in the past speculated that it was more likely Apple would partner with one or multiple carmakers to sell a car operating system, self-driving software or other related technology, rather than making the entire vehicle.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2020 that he had attempted to sell the EV company to Apple during a rough patch but that Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to meet with him.
Also that year, Morgan Stanley analysts said an Apple car had the potential to be “a transformative event� for the automobile and mobility industries in the coming decades, much as the iPhone disrupted the mobile phone sector.
Apple may be shelving plans to break into the highly competitive EV industry, but one of its largest partners sees a major opportunity. Foxconn, which manufactures iPhones, is , with sales due to start this year. CEO Young Liu recently CNN that the EV business model “should be reinvented.�
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
� & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
