The future of Cruise’s autonomous driving operations is uncertain after General Motors (GM), its primary backer, announced it will cease funding the initiative. This decision marks a significant shift for the self-driving car landscape.
GM, which has held approximately 90% ownership of Cruise since 2016, revealed this decision in a statement on Tuesday. This announcement follows a difficult period for Cruise, stemming from an October 2023 incident where one of its autonomous vehicles struck a pedestrian in San Francisco after she was pushed into its path by a human-driven car. Following the incident, California regulators suspended Cruise’s permit to test driverless vehicles, causing Cruise to temporarily halt operations in other locations. Limited testing resumed in Arizona in May 2024.
A Cruise autonomous car.
GM, having invested billions in Cruise, explained the decision to discontinue funding for robotaxi development. They cited the substantial time and resources required to scale the business, coupled with an increasingly competitive robotaxi market. GM plans to merge Cruise and GM technical teams into a single unit focused on advancing autonomous and assisted driving technologies.
“GM is committed to delivering the best driving experiences to our customers in a disciplined and capital efficient manner,” stated Mary Barra, CEO of GM. “Cruise has been an early innovator in autonomy, and the deeper integration of our teams, combined with GM’s strong brands, scale, and manufacturing strength, will help advance our vision for the future of transportation.”
Dave Richardson, GM’s senior vice president of software and services engineering, affirmed the automaker’s “full commitment to autonomous driving and excitement to bring GM customers its benefits — enhanced safety, improved traffic flow, increased accessibility, and reduced driver stress.
Cruise has yet to issue a public statement regarding GM’s decision and its potential impact on ongoing autonomous testing. Currently, Cruise operates driverless vehicles in Texas and Arizona, but GM’s announcement could lead to an immediate suspension of these operations. MaagX has contacted Cruise for comment and will update this article upon receiving a response.
GM’s move underscores the challenges confronting the nascent robotaxi industry, primarily composed of pilot programs. This echoes a similar decision by Ford in 2022, when they withdrew funding from Argo, an autonomous vehicle specialist. Waymo, backed by Alphabet, currently leads the field, testing robotaxis in numerous cities and recently announcing an upcoming launch in Miami.
