General Motors has announced it will no longer fund its Cruise Robotaxi program, effectively shutting it down.

The automaker will fold Cruise employees into existing teams and prioritize its driver assistance system, Super Cruise, instead of robotaxis.

“Consistent with GM’s capital allocation priorities, GM will no longer fund robotaxi development work given the considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business, along with an increasingly competitive robotaxi market,” reads the press release. High costs and accidents have plagued Cruise, while its biggest rival Waymo has continued to see success.

GM, which currently owns 90% of Cruise, will increase its ownership to 97% and eventually acquire the remaining shares. Cruise's shutdown will also save GM $1 billion a year, according to the company.

Cruise staff told TechCrunch they were "surprised” and “blindsided” by the decision, learning about the transition at the same time as the media. Sunsetting Cruise could take several months, and GM has not yet said if any layoffs will occur as a result.

Cruise has had a tough time since October last year, when one of its robotaxis ran over a woman in San Francisco. Following the incident, the California DMV suspended Cruise’s license, forcing the company to halt operations nationwide until it had regained public trust.

Further, the company recorded a loss of $3.48 billion in 2023 and was fined $500,000 last month for providing false records on the San Francisco crash.

It's unlikely Cruise's deal with Uber, which was announced back in August, will still move forward now that Cruise is shutting down. PCMag has reached out to Uber for comment on the status of this program.

By: DocMemory
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