Virgin Hyperloop laid off more than 100 of its employees on Friday after embracing a plan to focus on cargo transport over passengers, according to a Financial Times report.
Friday's layoffs came mostly because of supply chain issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the FT. Josh Giegel, the company's co-founder, left the company in October 2021 after seven years, which reportedly spurred other executive exits over the last few months.
Virgin Hyperloop is the only company to ever successfully transport passengers within a system of magnets and vacuum tubes that make up the often theoretical hyperloop technology, and the company has a contract with the Saudi Arabian government for the technology's development. Elon Musk's Boring Company has also proposed several hyperloop transport projects in the United States.
Virgin Hyperloop did not immediately respond to requests for comment.