GM is laying off half of Cruise’s workforce as it bails on robotaxis
After nine years and $10 billion in investment, GM is scrapping Cruise, its robotaxi biz, for parts.
The US’s largest automaker said it would lay off about half of Cruise’s workforce — likely more than 1,000 employees.
Employees are said to have been in a state of limbo since December, when GM said it would slam the brakes on robotaxi development at Cruise. The reasoning: robotaxi competition from rivals like Alphabet’s Waymo and the “considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business.” Management said the move will save it $1 billion a year.
Waymo, which still loses money consistently, announced last week that it will intro its autonomous vehicles in San Diego and Las Vegas.
Prior to the announcement, Cruise had partnered with Uber to allow users to select a robotaxi ride on the app. The offering was set to begin this year. Uber also has a partnership with Waymo and rival robotaxi companies like Aurora and Motional.
Employees are said to have been in a state of limbo since December, when GM said it would slam the brakes on robotaxi development at Cruise. The reasoning: robotaxi competition from rivals like Alphabet’s Waymo and the “considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business.” Management said the move will save it $1 billion a year.
Waymo, which still loses money consistently, announced last week that it will intro its autonomous vehicles in San Diego and Las Vegas.
Prior to the announcement, Cruise had partnered with Uber to allow users to select a robotaxi ride on the app. The offering was set to begin this year. Uber also has a partnership with Waymo and rival robotaxi companies like Aurora and Motional.
