Jeff Sica, founder of Circle Squared Alternative Investments, speaks on “Barney & Co.” about the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple, which claims the tech giant has a monopoly on the smartphone market. .
Apple is laying off 614 employees in California after reports emerged earlier this year that the tech giant was abandoning efforts to make electric vehicles.
The layoffs affect eight offices in Santa Clara County and are scheduled to go into effect on May 27, according to Apple’s filing with the state.
The application does not name the project, but the San Francisco Chronicle reports that roles affected by the job cuts include “machine shop” managers, product design engineers and hardware engineers.
According to Bloomberg, Apple internally announced in February that it was canceling its electric vehicle development plan, known as Project Titan.
Apple waste electric car project
People gather at the Apple Store in Santa Monica, California in November 2023. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The company spent billions of dollars on the project, but the move surprised the roughly 2,000 employees working on it, Bloomberg also reported.
The outlet said some employees will be reassigned to focus on Apple’s generative artificial intelligence division, while others will be laid off.
| ticker | safety | last | change | change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAPL | Apple. | 168.89 | -0.76 | -0.45% |
Rumors have circulated for years that Apple is developing self-driving electric taxis to compete with electric vehicle giant Tesla.
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Apple CEO Tim Cook was among the people waiting in line to buy the Apple Vision Pro headset at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City on February 2nd. Cook confirmed in 2017 that Apple was working on developing applicable autonomous systems. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images/Getty Images)
In 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that the company was working on developing autonomous systems that could be applied to the self-driving car field.
That same year, Apple received permission from the state of California to test vehicles equipped with self-driving devices on public roads.
However, management ultimately decided in February of this year to cancel the project as it had reached a “make-or-break point,” Bloomberg reported.
The layoffs will affect eight Apple offices in California. (Reuters/Mike Seeger/File Photo/Reuters Photo)
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Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment from FOX Business on Friday.
