Apple to let 600 staff go after electric vehicle project canned

Cupertino feels repurcussions of Project Titan failure

Trade

Tim Cook. Image: Apple

Apple has laid off 600 employees at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. These are employees from two ambitious projects the company is discontinuing: its electric vehicle codenamed Project Titan and a push to develop its own digital displays to reduce reliance on external providers. Remaining employees from those departments will be redeployed to focus on artificial intelligence (AI) – an area Apple has been criticised for being slow to enter.

After 10 years of research and billions of dollars of investment, Apple recently decided to halt its plans around a self-driving electric car. This left it with a surplus of 2,000 employees, some of whom have been transferred to the AI department.

Apple had been working on plans to develop its own displays for the next generation of the Apple Watch. Currently, the company purchases those displays from outside manufacturers and developers, which can lead to delays in the production chain. However, the attempt to do better in-house has also been abandonned with high costs and delays are said to be the reason.

News Wires

Read More: Apple