Apple dismisses more than 200 employees from Project Titan autonomous vehicle project

“Apple dismissed just over 200 employees this week from Project Titan, its stealthy autonomous vehicle group, people familiar with the matter told CNBC,” Lora Kolodny, Christina Farr, and Paul A. Eisenstein report for CNBC. “An Apple spokesperson acknowledged the layoffs and said the company still sees opportunity in the space.”
We have an incredibly talented team working on autonomous systems and associated technologies at Apple. As the team focuses their work on several key areas for 2019, some groups are being moved to projects in other parts of the company, where they will support machine learning and other initiatives, across all of Apple. We continue to believe there is a huge opportunity with autonomous systems, that Apple has unique capabilities to contribute, and that this is the most ambitious machine learning project ever. — Apple Inc.
“In August, Apple enlisted a Tesla engineering vice president and Apple veteran, Doug Field, to lead the Titan team alongside Bob Mansfield,” Kolodny, Farr, and Eisenstein report. “This week’s dismissals from the group were seen internally as anticipated restructuring under the relatively new leadership.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Expected.
We’d be more concerned if there weren’t any restructuring and refocusing under the new leadership.
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Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple to launch revolutionary Apple Car within 5-7 years – August 15, 2018
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Apple’s Project Titan is still a go, says analyst – June 28, 2018
Apple’s autonomous vehicle fleet grows to 62 vehicles in California – May 29, 2018
Apple’s autonomous vehicle project may be closer to fruition than it appears – May 25, 2018
Apple’s Bob Mansfield reboots Apple Car project, lays off several dozen employees – September 10, 2016
Apple hires founder of QNX with Apple Car project increasing focus on self-driving software – July 28, 2016
Apple taps Bob Mansfield to oversee Apple Car project – July 25, 2016