Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is changing its Project Titan, responsible for the development of autonomous vehicles. According to a report by CNBC, the tech giant has fired more than 200 employees working on the project. However, Apple still expects productive opportunities from autonomous technology in the future. An Apple spokesperson explained, “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.”
Earlier last year, Apple took steps to develop its vehicle technology, by hiring a Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) engineering vice president and Apple veteran, Doug Field. This week’s layoffs are views as a restructuring of the project under its new leadership.
Among the employees impacted by the restructuring process, some are moving to other departments. Apple CEO Tim Cook has been revealing the company’s focus on health initiatives. “I believe, if you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, ‘What was Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind?’ it will be about health,” Tim Cook explained to CNBC.