GM pulls out of robotaxis, stops funding its Cruise autonomous vehicle unit
DETROIT — General Motors announced Tuesday that it would exit the robot taxi business and stop funding its money-losing Cruise autonomous vehicle unit.
Instead, the Detroit automaker will focus on developing partially automated driver assistance systems for personal vehicles like its Super Cruise, which allows drivers to take their hands off the wheel.
GM said it would exit robo-taxis “given the significant time and resources that would be required to grow the business, as well as an increasingly competitive robo-taxis market.”
The company said it would combine Cruise’s technical team with its own to work on advanced driver assistance systems.
GM purchased Cruise Automation in 2016 for at least $1 billion with high hopes of developing a profitable fleet of robo-taxis.
Over the years, GM invested billions in the subsidiary and eventually bought back 90% of the company from investors, while racking up millions in losses.
GM even announced plans to generate $1 billion in annual revenue for Cruise by 2025, but it cut spending after one of its self-driving Chevrolet Bolts dragged a San Francisco pedestrian who was struck by a another vehicle in 2023.
The California Public Utilities Commission alleged Cruise then I hid the details of the accident for more than two weeks.
The incident led to the cancellation of Cruise’s license to operate its driverless fleet in California. suspended by regulators and triggered a purge of its leadership — in addition to the layoffs which laid off around a quarter of its workforce.
GM CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday the new unit would focus on personal vehicles and develop systems that can drive themselves under certain circumstances.
The company has reached agreements to purchase an additional 7% of Cruise and intends to purchase the remaining shares in order to own the entire company.
The move is another step backwards from autonomous vehicles, which have proven much more difficult to develop than companies anticipated. Two years ago, rival Ford Motor Co. dissolved its Argo AI autonomous vehicle business in Pittsburgh, which it co-owned with Volkswagen.
At the time, the company said it didn’t see a path to profitability for several years.
Yet other companies are still developing autonomous vehicles and expanding their services.
Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo is accelerating plans to expand its robotaxi service beyond the Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. Last week, the company announced that it start testing its driverless Jaguars in Miami next year, with plans to start charging for rides in 2026.
The move comes less than a month after Waymo opened its robotaxi service. to all those who seek for a ride in an 80 square mile (129 square kilometer) area of ​​Los Angeles. Waymo also plans to launch fleets in Atlanta and Austin next year in partnership with ride-hailing leader Uber.
In April, a company called Aurora Innovation plans to begin hauling freight on Texas highways using fully driverless tractor-trailers.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said his company plans to operate autonomous Model Y and Model 3 without a human driver next year. Steering-wheelless robotaxis using Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system would be available in 2026 from California and Texas, he said.
But an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into fully autonomous driving’s ability to see in low visibility conditions casts doubt on whether Teslas can be deployed without a human behind the wheel.
The agency began the investigation in October after receiving reports of four accidents involving “fully autonomous driving” when Teslas encountered sun glare, fog and airborne dust. An Arizona pedestrian was killed in one of the crashes.
