Apple executives pull the plug on the company’s electric vehicle project

Apple Inc. has reportedly ended its electric car program.

Citing the company’s unnamed sources, Bloomberg reported Tuesday that the announcement surprised the nearly 2,000 employees working on the project.

Apple CEO Jeff Williams and the vice president in charge of the company’s EV project told the project employees that many of them would be shifted over to the artificial intelligence division.

An unspecified number of layoffs will happen, according to Bloomberg.

The multibillion-dollar project started in 2014, aiming to produce a fully autonomous EV with a luxury interior and a voice-guided navigation system. In the face of slowing demand for EVs, on top of technical challenges the project faced, senior executives decided to kill the project.