After years of pursuing the robotaxi dream, General Motors has concluded that these fully autonomous vehicles (AVs) require too much time and resources to scale. The company announced on 10 December 2024 that it will stop funding AV developments at its Cruise unit to focus instead on related benefits from more accessible partially automated driving systems, which take the form of its SuperCruise feature.
Cruise Automation was a Silicon Valley start-up with an early stage autopilot product, the Cruise RP-1, when GM acquired it in 2016. The aim at the time was to fend off the growing AV competitive threat from Alphabet, Apple and Uber, helping GM realise a profitable fleet of robotaxis. Cruise operated as an independent unit within GM’s Autonomous Vehicle Development Team.