Remember when Kevin Costner’s character in “Field of Dreams” hears a mysterious voice saying, “Build it, and he will come”? In the case of tech mega-giant Apple, it’s more like, “Build it, and watch it rot.”
Apple’s dream of building an electric car intended to rival Tesla’s EVs has ended, according to The New York Times. The company spent billions of dollars researching the project, dubbed “Titan,” over 10 years, the Times reported Tuesday. It looks like the money and the dream have been flushed down the drain.
It’s an unusual announcement for the computer giant, according to the Times.
“The cancellation is a rare move by Apple, which typically doesn’t shelve such public and high-profile projects,” Times lead consumer technology reporter Brian X. Chen wrote.
In canceling one of its open-secret projects, Apple will move some of the employees to its artificial intelligence division, according to Bloomberg.
Chief Bloomberg correspondent Mark Gurman posted the news on the social media platform X:
“NEW: In abandoning a car, Apple is giving up on billions in potential revenue and the dream of selling what the guy who killed the project once called the ‘ultimate mobile device.’ Now, the spotlight turns to AI and mixed-reality, for better or worse.”
NEW: In abandoning a car, Apple is giving up on billions in potential revenue and the dream of selling what the guy who killed the project once called the “ultimate mobile device.” Now, the spotlight turns to AI and mixed-reality, for better or worse. https://t.co/onwWXUY4qW
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) February 28, 2024
From the dead dream of “ultimate mobile device” to “mixed reality” may sound like a scene out of a low-budget sci-fi movie, but it’s the world we live in, a world where humans are increasingly dependent on technology. The price? Human autonomy.
Another way of putting it is that humans are becoming the willing slaves of machines. So much for the globalist vision of the “Great Reset.” It’s more like the Great Freedom Die-Off. And Apple doesn’t want to miss out on its chance to be a mixed-reality overlord.
According to the technology-centric website TechCrunch, Apple’s venture into the EV world was seen as a possible boost, “giving it a new source of revenue to help bolster against stagnating hardware sales and regulatory threats to its services business.”
The Titan project was axed amidst major automakers reevaluating their investments in electric vehicles, according to TechCrunch. Americans don’t seem too keen on buying electric vehicles.
Most of the 2,000 Apple employees working on the Titan project will focus on AI efforts instead. Apple COO Jeff Williams and an Apple vice president, Keith Lynch — the man leading the electric car project — made the internal announcement, according to Bloomberg.
Will you ever buy an EV?
Apple has been out of the spotlight in the AI boom since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Apple’s rivals — Google, Microsoft and Samsung — have rivaled OpenAI’s ChatGPT with advancements in AI technology, according to ZDNet.
Reports indicate that Apple is now focused on an AI chatbot of its own — Apple GPT. The company has been secretive about incorporating AI into its devices. Some new AI features will likely be unveiled at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June, according to ZDNet.
Who knows, Apple may get back into the EV business after its AI chatbot endeavors have been programmed to convince humans to buy cars they don’t want. It’s hard to say in the brave new world of mixed-reality.
It used to be that competing powers attempted to control the narrative to create reality. These days it’s whoever makes the best mixed-reality controls the narrative. It sounds an awful lot like playing God.
An apocryphal ancient Chinese curse warns, “May you live in interesting times.” We live in interesting times.
Ever wonder what the Chinese are doing with AI?
