Failed Robotaxi Company Laying Off Workforce

It's the end of the road for Cruise.

Time of Death

General Motors' robotaxi company Cruise has begun laying off half of its workforce, The Verge reports — a nail in the coffin for the company, two months after General Motors pulled its funding.

GM has announced that it's acquired "full ownership" over the once-promising startup, while doubling down on the advancements of its assisted-driving feature Super Cruise.

Once hailed as a pioneer in the autonomous ride-hailing service space, Cruise had a lot to lose. In October 2023, a pedestrian became trapped underneath a Cruise robotaxi, launching a lengthy investigation and eventually leading to California yanking its permit in the state.

Despite lofty plans to bring its robotaxi service to more cities, Cruise never recovered, pulling its entire fleet from the streets in November and never making a return.

Cruise's spectacular fall from grace highlights nagging shortcomings of the tech, resulting in plenty of mayhem on public streets and terrifying run-ins with pedestrians, despite many years of testing and billions in investment.

"We are grateful for their passion and contributions to help us reach this stage, and our focus is on supporting them into their next chapter with severance packages and career support," Cruise spokesperson Sara Autio told The Verge. "While not an easy decision, we are focused on combining efforts with General Motors to accelerate autonomy at scale on personal autonomous vehicles."

Highway to Hell

Where Cruise's demise leaves the industry as a whole remains to be seen. Once its fiercest competitor, Alphabet's Waymo, is still planning a major expansion nationwide and is currently operating a 300-vehicle fleet in San Francisco.

Elon Musk's Tesla is also planning a rollout of autonomous "Cybercabs," but when — or if — that'll happen remains extremely fuzzy.

Now that Musk, currently distracted by a side quest to machete his way through the US government, has floated the idea of getting rid of essentially all regulations, it remains to be seen whether Tesla will have to battle the same regulatory hurdles that Cruise failed to clear.

More on robotaxis: Furious Crowd Tears Waymo Robotaxi Limb From Limb