Earlier this week, it was reported that Apple cancelled its car project, also known as Project Titan. The company had invested more than $10 billion in the endeavour.
According to The New York Times, the company originally intended to compete with Tesla and create an electric car. But then the goal changed and Apple wanted to compete with Waymo in the field of unmanned cars.
A team of engineers from Porsche and NASA was formed to develop Project Titan. They developed a number of new technologies, including a windscreen that can display turn-by-turn navigation instructions and a sunroof made from a special polymer to reduce solar heat gain.
In ten years, four project managers have changed. At one point, Apple even considered acquiring Tesla and discussed the idea with Ilon Musk.
At the time of Project Titan's supposed closure (it didn't officially exist at all) this week, more than 2,000 people were working on Apple's car. In the latest iteration of the concept change, it was again supposed to be a Tesla competitor. If the car had gone on sale, it would have cost more than $100,000.
Earlier this year, Apple executives decided that instead of a car, the company's resources would be better used to develop generative artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, the company told employees it was scaling back Project Titan and announced that some of the team would be shifted to AI work.
Source: The New York Times
