Apple Inc. has dismissed more than 200 employees from Project Titan, the secretive business unit that leads its efforts in the autonomous driving segment.

The cuts, which were reported today by CNBC and confirmed in a company statement, took place this week. Some of the affected staffers are said to have been laid off while others will be reassigned to other Apple divisions.

“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,” the iPhone maker said in a statement.

The cuts reportedly didn’t come as much of a surprise to insiders. According to the anonymous sources who initially leaked the staff reduction, the move was part of an anticipated restructuring initiated by the group’s recently reshuffled leadership. Former Tesla Inc. Vice President of Engineering Doug Field joined Apple a few months ago along with other veterans of the carmaker to work on Project Titan.

The group has gone through several major changes since its formation in 2015. Apple was originally looking to build its own vehicle from the ground up, according to some rumors, but in 2016 it narrowed the focus of Project Titan to developing only autonomous driving software.

In an interview this past November, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook indicated that the group’s mission statement has since shifted again. He hinted that Project Titan is now looking to harness its autonomous driving software for more than just cars.

This week’s workforce reduction marks just the latest in a series of cuts that the group has undergone as part of these shakeups. In aggregate, Project Titan reportedly shed hundreds of employees from 2016 to 2018. The repeated restructurings are partially a reflection of the massive competitive and technical challenges facing late entrants in the autonomous driving segment.

Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo LLC subsidiary, which is widely seen as the market leader, traces its roots to an internal project at the search giant that started more than a decade ago. While Apple was busy restructuring Project Titan earlier this week, the group announced plans for a $13.6 million autonomous vehicle plant in Michigan.

The facility will retrofit Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans and Jaguar I-PACE crossover SUVs with Waymo’s autonomous driving technology. The 100 to 400 people expected to work at the plant are set have their work cut out for them: Waymo has placed orders for up to 82,000 vehicles from suppliers. The group is gearing up production to support the expansion of its recently launched commercial ride-hailing service.  

Photo: atmtx/Flickr