GM quits Cruise robotaxis to focus on self-driving personal cars

GM says it will end funding of Cruise robotaxi efforts to concentrate on autonomous driving for personal cars.

The automaker will instead combine Cruise’s technical team with its own to establish a “single effort” for both driverless cars and driver aids. There would be “considerable time and resources” needed to grow the robotaxi business, GM says.

GM already owns 90% of Cruise, but will use shareholder deals and its own funds to buy out the remaining 10% stake. It then plans to work with Cruise leadership to “restructure and refocus,” with completion due in the first half of 2025. The move is expected to save over $1 billion per year.

The decision isn’t surprising. Cruise has reeled ever since one of its robotaxis struck a pedestrian in October 2023. That led to California banning the autonomous cars on its streets for months, and a restructuring of the company that included layoffs and the departure of CEO Kyle Vogt. Cruise voluntarily halted testing in other states and shelved plans for its shuttle-style Origin robotaxi. Xbox veteran Marc Whitten became Cruise’s new CEO in June.

The leadership change was overshadowed in November when Cruise admitted to submitting a false incident report in hopes of affecting a federal safety investigation over the pedestrian impact. It agreed to pay a $500,000 fine to defer prosecution.

The incident and its aftermath not only disrupted Cruise, but gave its main rival Waymo a competitive advantage. Combine this with GM’s other challenges, including a weaker EV market (if one where it’s doing relatively well), and the costs of maintaining Cruise as-is were going to be steep. This theoretically helps GM streamline its costs even as it aims to challenge Tesla, Ford, and others with increasing autonomy in their vehicles.

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