General Motors has decided to cease financial support for developing the Cruise self-driving taxi.
The company has announced a strategic shift, focusing on advancing autonomous driving technology for personal vehicles.
General Motors highlighted the growing competition in the robotaxi sector as a key factor behind its decision.
In October, Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduced the highly anticipated robotaxi, the Cybercab, during an event at Warner Bros Studios in Burbank, California.
General Motors has cited the significant time and resources required to expand the business for its strategic shift.
The company has not disclosed the number of Cruise employees that may be transitioned to GM.
General Motors, which currently holds approximately 90% of Cruise, announced that it has reached agreements with other shareholders to increase its stake to over 97%.
In December 2023, Cruise announced plans to reduce its workforce by cutting 900 jobs, representing approximately a quarter of its total employees.
Cruise previously suspended all testing of its US vehicles following California’s decision to revoke its driverless testing permit.
In October 2023, a vehicle associated with the company struck a pedestrian, dragging her for over 20 feet (6 meters) and resulting in serious injuries.
Cruise has acknowledged submitting a fraudulent report to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding the incident, closing a criminal investigation last month.
Federal prosecutors indicated that employees of Cruise failed to describe the pedestrian who was dragged in their report following the incident the following day.
Kyle Vogt, co-founder of Cruise, departed from the company just a few weeks later.
On Tuesday, after GM’s announcement, Mr. Vogt took to the social media platform X to share his thoughts. “It has become evident that GM’s actions have raised significant concerns among observers.”
Mary Barra, the chief executive of the Detroit-based manufacturer, has made a bold prediction regarding the Cruise business, estimating that it could achieve annual revenues of $50 billion (£39 billion) by 2030.
Competing automotive companies have faced challenges in their endeavours to develop self-driving vehicles.
In 2022, Ford and Volkswagen made headlines with their decision to terminate Argo AI, their self-driving car joint venture.
The burgeoning robotaxi sector has consistently drawn the attention of significant industry stakeholders.
In addition to Tesla, other companies vying to develop self-driving taxis include Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, and the technology powerhouse Amazon.
