The American car manufacturer General Motors has said goodbye to its subsidiary Cruise because the development of self-driving cabs became too expensive and too time-consuming. Competition in this area has intensified massively and progress is lagging behind expectations. Instead of continuing to invest in the uncertain market for autonomous cabs, the car manufacturer will now concentrate on the further development of driver assistance systems, which are to be integrated into private cars step by step. The dream of a nationwide autonomous cab service in the USA has thus been dashed.
Cruise, founded in 2013 and originally celebrated as an innovative solution for autonomous driving, has cost GM billions since 2016. But after a loss of over 10 billion US dollars and a particularly disastrous year in 2023 with a loss of 3.5 billion dollars, GM is now pulling the emergency brake.
Accidents and setbacks: A vicious circle
A serious accident in 2023, in which a cruise cab injured a pedestrian, turned out to be a turning point. The company had not forwarded all relevant video footage of the incident to the authorities, which led to a loss of trust. Shortly afterwards, the Californian authorities withdrew the operating license for Cruise's driverless cabs. This incident, along with other safety issues such as the obstruction of first responders, cast a shadow over the future of Cruise's autonomous driving technology.
Despite a change of management and further financial injections from GM, the project could no longer be saved. Cruise tried to gain a foothold in other cities such as Phoenix, Dallas and Houston - but always with a human driver at the wheel, which further increased operating costs.
What happens to Cruise and the employees?
GM has announced that it will take over Cruise completely and restructure the company. Cruise's development teams are to be integrated into GM's own departments. However, it is still unclear what has happened to the remaining 2,300 Cruise employees. Although some of the offices in San Francisco will be retained, it is expected that many employees will lose their jobs or be transferred to other areas.
A critical look: What does this mean for the future of autonomous driving?
GM's decision to abandon the Robotaxi project is a further damper on the vision of autonomous vehicles. It shows that the road to the widespread use of such technologies remains a rocky one. The question is whether the market and the authorities are ready to accept such technologies - or whether the dream of fully autonomous cabs has already been dashed.
However, Cruise's shambles also leaves a lesson for all other companies pushing into the autonomous market: The road is long, expensive and full of setbacks. In practice, it is clear that technology must not only be efficient, but also safe and reliable in order to gain the trust of authorities and the public.
Legal and safety aspects: The key to the success of autonomous vehicles
When developing autonomous vehicles, it is high time we looked not only at the technical possibilities, but also at the legal framework and safety aspects. These should not just be treated as an afterthought, but should be an integral part of development right from the start.
