Apple once saw autonomous driving as the “mother of all AI projects.”
So its decision to ditch “Project Titan,” its decade-long effort to build a self-driving EV, and to focus instead on generative AI, has sparked debate. Does the world’s bluest blue-chip tech company think EVs and AVs are a bust?
“The thing to remember about the automaking industry, it is very, very difficult to enter,” said Andrew Miller, Toronto-based co-author of the forthcoming second edition of The End of Driving. “It’s not at all surprising to me that Apple looks at it as, ‘Why are we working so very hard to break into this market when everyone that has broken into this market is suffering?’”
While he’s still bullish on autonomy and believes Apple could have succeeded with a self-driving car, Miller said other types of AI are “faster paths to more profit.”
The project’s peril: The future is unclear for the nearly 2,000-person Project Titan team, with some potentially facing layoffs and others shifting to work on generative AI, where Apple is “investing significantly.”
Though Apple spent billions of dollars on Project Titan, by Bloomberg’s estimate, the vehicle, with its potential US$100,000 price tag, wasn’t on track to bring in the profits Apple gets from its core business, which is increasingly bolstered by software rather than just hardware.
Consumers aren’t shelling out for EVs at the rate automakers expected, and self-driving car companies have been sidelined by safety concerns. Meanwhile, the AI software market is booming thanks to large language models and their ilk.
Apple—with its expertise in maps, extending battery life and entertainment—was considered such a threat that Elon Musk briefly tried to interest Apple in buying Tesla.
But given the cut-throat competition in the EV sector between legacy automakers, market leader Tesla and the wave of fast-growing Chinese brands, Apple’s decision makes sense, said Shiv Patel, a Toronto-based engineer in the AV/EV industry. Patel said in an interview the only way to gain the type of success that Apple has enjoyed with phones would be to make a major breakthrough in either battery technology or manufacturing automation, like humanoid robots.
The Canadian connection: Canadian auto-parts giant Magna was once said to be the manufacturer assembling the vehicles, helping drive its stock US$21 billion higher. Apple was reportedly testing autonomous-driving technology in the Ottawa area, alongside the likes of BlackBerry and Ford.
Bloomberg reported that the Ottawa team under Dan Dodge will now be redirected to work on Apple’s main operating systems.
What its demise means: Bern Grush, executive director of the Canada-based Urban Robotics Foundation, said it’s become clear that automated driving, particularly for the consumer market, is a bigger endeavour than many originally thought.
“Level 4 automated driving systems will be useful for robotaxi applications, but not suitable as a household vehicle,” said Grush. “It’s just the wrong product intent for what automation is going to turn out to become. We have all been fooled. Including [Project Titan leaders] Jeff Williams and Kevin Lynch.”
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