GM’s Cruise Appoints Marc Whitten As New CEO
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General Motors’ autonomous driving subsidiary Cruise has announced that it has appointed Marc Whitten as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Effective starting July 16th, 2024, Whitten was a founding engineer at Xbox and Xbox Live where he oversaw multiple generations of technology to serve millions of consumers. With Amazon, he worked as General Manager and Vice President of various devices and services, including Fire TV, Kindle, and Amazon apps and entertainment services. Whitten also worked as Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Sonos and most recently as Chief Product and Technology Officer, Create at Unity.
Cruise CEO Marc Whitten
“In a few years, transportation will be fundamentally safer and more accessible than it is today, creating much more value for individuals and communities around the world. It is an opportunity of a lifetime to be part of this transformation,” Cruise CEO Marc Whitten remarked. “The team at Cruise has built world-class technology, and I look forward to working with them to help bring this critical mission to life.”
It’s worth noting that Mo Elshenawy will continue to serve as Cruise President and Chief Technology Officer, while Craig Glidden will serve as President and Chief Administrative Officer. Both gentlemen will report directly to Whitten.
In other Cruise-related developments, the self-driving company also hired Nick Mulholland as Cruise Chief Communications & Marketing Officer. Most recently, Mulholland led EV automaker Rivian’s global communications team including brand marketing, corporate and sustainability communications.
“My core belief is that this technology and Cruise’s dedication to its mission will change the world. Achieving such a bold vision will require a deep and meaningful collaboration with the communities we serve,” Cruise Chief Communications & Marketing Officer Nick Mulholland claimed in a prepared statement. “It is an incredible opportunity to play a role in building these vital connections.”
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More wasted $$$$$$$
I’m trying to conceptualize his background to see how it fits for Cruise. At “Create At Unity” he stayed for 3 years and promoted AI in the game engine. At Amazon he stayed for 5 years and presided over Luna, their cloud gaming service. He left 5 months after it was launched. Before that he worked for Sonos for only 2 years, in audio, and before that, 14 years at Xbox.
I expect to see Marc promote a centralized AI/cloud computing service that helps Cruise vehicles operate. Perhaps with Nvidia chips. Given his penchant for tackling bigger projects, I suspect he will not stick around too long once the task is complete, possibly 3-5 years.
Einstein once said repeating the same mistake and expecting a different result was the definition of insanity. Obviously, GM is not following this quote by pouring more money into the Cruise fiasco. GM management has lost all judgement.