- Apple is canceling its electric car project and Elon Musk is about to say something, according to a new report.
- Tesla’s chief posted a saluting face emoji before acknowledging the challenges of making cars.
- “The natural state of car companies is dead,” Musk wrote in Tuesday’s X magazine.
Elon Musk is here to pay his respects as Apple cancels its electric car project.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the tech giant is scrapping its 10-year-old electric vehicle project. In response to the news, Tesla’s CEO posted a saluting face and a cigarette emoji. ×post on tuesday.
“The natural state of car companies is dead,” Musk wrote in another article. post on tuesday.
Many of the employees working on the car project will be transferred to the company’s AI division, but Apple engineers and car designers may be laid off, according to Bloomberg.
The iPhone maker has been working on an electric car since 2014, but the car’s development has been plagued by leadership changes and launch delays.
Of course, Musk is well aware of the challenges of building electric cars. Tesla’s top executives have battled a lack of funding and production slowdowns to build the company’s cars.
Despite Apple being a $1 trillion technology giant, Musk said in 2015 that he was not threatened by Apple’s interest in the electric car market.
“It’s good that Apple is moving in this direction and investing. But cars are very complex compared to a cell phone or a smartwatch,” Musk told German newspaper Handelsblatt. “You can’t go to a supplier like Foxconn and say, ‘Make me a car.'”
Musk even jokingly referred to Apple as “Tesla’s graveyard” in the same interview.
“If things don’t work out at Tesla, I’ll be working at Apple. I’m not kidding,” Musk told newspaper Handelsblatt.
Representatives for Apple and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider outside of normal business hours.
