2 weeks ago
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General Motors said Tuesday it will no longer fund the development of a commercial robotaxi business and will instead absorb its self-driving car subsidiary Cruise and combine it with the automaker’s own efforts to develop driver assistance features — and eventually fully autonomous personal vehicles.
The pivot is a remarkable step for the automaker, which acquired the self-driving startup Cruise in March 2016 for an estimated $1 billion. Since then, GM has poured billions into the company in a bid to commercial autonomous vehicle technology via a robotaxi business.
GM said in a statement that “the considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business, along with an increasingly competitive robotaxi market” were the reasons for the change.
The dramatic shift in strategy comes just one year after Cruise became embroiled in scandal, after one of its robotaxis struck a pedestrian and dragged her around 20 feet. That incident, and Cruise’s actions in the immediate aftermath, led to investigations, fines, firings, and GM taking more direct control over what was once a promising self-driving startup.
This story is developing…
English (US) ·