Apple Axes Electric Vehicle Project, Redirects Resources to Generative AI Sector
According to internal sources, Apple has decided to suspend its electric car production plans and focus more resources on the field of generative artificial intelligence.
Apple's electric car project, known as "Project Titan," aimed to diversify its product line and reduce its reliance on the iPhone. However, the iPhone still accounts for over half of Apple's global sales.
Although Apple has never officially confirmed the existence of this electric car project, Bloomberg recently reported on this news and revealed that the decision was announced to employees on Tuesday.
This decision comes at a time when the electric car industry is facing challenges. Tesla warned in January that slowing demand, rising interest rates, and increased competition would slow down sales growth this year. Meanwhile, companies like Ford and General Motors have also suspended plans to expand electric car production capacity, and Rivian has announced a 10% workforce reduction while maintaining stable delivery volumes this year.
However, despite the end of the electric car project, Apple is actively preparing to demonstrate its strength in the field of generative artificial intelligence. Investors are closely watching when this tech giant will bring new features to smartphones to compete with rivals like Samsung and Google.
This month, Apple released the new spatial computing headphones, Vision Pro, and plans to invest heavily in new chips and employees to incorporate artificial intelligence features into its devices. Apple stated that they have been accelerating their research and development process, investing nearly $30 billion last year, five times more than the past decade.
Apple's stock price rose 0.8% at the close of the day, with a nearly 24% increase in the past 12 months. Although the suspension of the electric car project may have some impact on the company's future diversification strategy, investors seem optimistic about Apple's investment in the field of artificial intelligence.