Apple scraps decade-long electric car project it explored, shifts team to generative AI

Apple is phasing out its decade-long plan to explore electric cars by canceling the project and shifting its team to generative artificial intelligence, people familiar with the matter have revealed, according to Caixin. Apple disclosed the news internally on Tuesday, surprising the nearly 2,000 employees involved in the program, with Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams and Kevin Lynch, the vice president in charge of the effort, making the decision. The two executives told employees that the program would begin to wind down, and that many of the employees on the team responsible for the car would be moved to the artificial intelligence unit led by executive John Giannandrea, and that those employees would focus on generative AI projects, which are an increasingly critical priority for the company. The Apple Car team also has hundreds of hardware engineers and automotive designers who could potentially apply for jobs on other Apple teams.