Apple lays off 600 people as it reportedly drops its self-driving car

Tens of thousands of tech workers have been laid off this year – but Apple staff have largely been safe

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Apple has laid off more than 600 employees, seemingly after it abandoned its plans for a self-driving car.

The cuts represent only a tiny proportion of Apple’s more than 160,000 employees. But they come amid tens of thousands of job cuts so far this year across the tech industry, from which Apple employees have largely been safe until now.

The company is reported to have had thousands of people working on the plan to build an Apple-branded vehicle that would be able to drive itself and use its automative technology. But recent reports indicate that it had abandoned the project, after concerns about the electric vehicle market and whether self-driving vehicles are yet possible or safe.

Apple never officially acknowledged the work on its car, which is said to have been known as Project Titan, and did not announce its closure. But new filings with California’s employment department show that it cut 600 jobs around the same time.

Some of those are thought to have been working on new display technology for the Apple Watch. But many of them were associated with the car project, according to Bloomberg.

Other staff were working in other locations and may have been laid off as part of the project’s wind down, it reported. But some others – such as those working on artificial intelligence technology – have been moved into other parts of its business.

Recent reports suggested that Apple is looking to reuse the work on the car in other projects, such as building a robot that would be able to follow its owner around the home.

The Apple layoffs are part of around 50,000 job cuts across the tech industry that have already happened in 2024. A number of companies – including Apple competitors such as Google and Microsoft – have made their own cuts, citing overhiring during the pandemic and other economic factors.

Apple has largely avoided such moves. Chief executive Tim Cook described layoffs as a “last resort” and it is thought to have hired less aggressively during the pandemic.