GM abandoned the development of robotaxis, but will continue to develop autopilot

The scope of commercial applications for autopilot technologies varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. General Motors Corporation, for example, considered it inappropriate to further finance its Cruise driverless taxi service, but considers it necessary to develop an autopilot for private use.

Image source: Cruise Automation

As reported by The Verge, employees of the Cruise subsidiary will move to the parent corporation as a result of the planned restructuring to focus on developing active driver assistance systems such as Super Cruise, or developing unmanned vehicles for personal use. The Cruise robotaxi service was too expensive for GM to develop and ultimately became difficult to justify such expenses to shareholders. Cruise posted a $3.48 billion loss last year, with no prospect of breaking even on the horizon.

GM CEO Mary Barra said on a call with investors yesterday: “Given the significant time and expense involved in scaling the robotaxi business in an increasingly competitive market, combining forces would be more efficient and consistent with our capital allocation priorities.” While there is no talk of reducing staff numbers, testing of the Cruise service in Arizona and Texas will be suspended. GM, which already owns 90% of Cruise shares, will have to buy the remaining 10% to decide the further formal fate of the subsidiary.

Having acquired the Cruise startup in 2016, GM managed to invest approximately $10 billion in it. As the head of GM explained, the costs of maintaining a robotaxi fleet are quite high, and the corporation does not consider such a business to be one of its priorities. Cruise’s business was also undermined by the October 2023 incident involving a pedestrian hit by another car in San Francisco. The Cruise prototype dragged a woman pinned under its underbody for about six meters, only to stop on the right side of the roadway. While the investigation was ongoing, which awarded large compensation to the victim, Cruise did not resume paid transportation on its robotaxi prototypes. Tests in Arizona and Texas were resumed only if safe drivers were present at the wheel. GM’s self-driving taxi service was originally slated to launch by mid-decade. Under pressure from investors, the business now has to be closed. This will save up to $1 billion annually.