General Motors has announced that it’s investing another $850 million into its autonomous driving subsidiary Cruise. The robotaxi company has struggled with the consequences of an October 2023 incident in which a pedestrian was struck and trapped by a Cruise AV unit after being hit by a human-driven vehicle.
According to a report from Forbes, GM Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Paul Jacobson explained that the fresh funding would buy the Detroit-based automaker additional time to conduct a “strategic review” of the self-driving subsidiary’s future. In response to this announcement, a Cruise spokesperson remarked that the company is grateful for The General’s continued backing.
It’s worth noting that General Motors has already invested roughly $8 billion into the subsidiary, which has yet to post any significant revenue figures.
As a reminder, Cruise just recently got back out onto American streets, albeit in a different form than before. Before the October 2023 accident, Cruise AV units were running around California streets as autonomous robotaxis. Now they’re operating in Phoenix, Arizona, and Dallas, Texas, with supervised drivers ready to take the wheel should the need arise. Moving forward, it’s expected that the self-driving subsidiary will continue to expand its operations into the Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, and Chandler areas as certain safety benchmarks are met.
Regarding the pedestrian involved in the aforementioned October 2023 accident, they reached a settlement with Cruise that landed somewhere in the $8 to $12 million ballpark, although the exact details are unspecified. That being said, the current condition of the pedestrian remains unknown as of the time of this writing.
As far as other Cruise-related developments are concerned, GM Authority reported that the autonomous driving company was deploying Chevy Equinox units to map out the streets of Phoenix in order to allow for the future reintroduction of self-driving vehicles to the city.
Be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for GM Cruise news, GM AV news, GM technology news, GM EV news, GM business news, and more obsessive-compulsive GM news coverage.
Comments
Spending MORE money on another vehicle technology that few want. Brilliant.
Should read “GM plans to waste $850 million”
DUMB!
40,000 road deaths each year with humans behind the wheel. This technology needs to be given a chance to see if it can make things safer. I used Cruise several times in Austin. Really liked it and felt safe. Looking forward to using Cruise in Houston
More good $ after bad, again & again.
DM get rid of Mary Barry ! She is destroying GM !!!!!!!!!