GM indefinitely halts work on driverless car at Cruise unit
General Motors halts driverless car project at Cruise unit due to California restrictions. Shifts focus to Chevrolet Bolt development after facing scrutiny and $605 million charge. CEO resigns. Strong Q2 financial performance reported.
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General Motors has decided to indefinitely halt work on its driverless car project at its Cruise unit. The move comes after California regulators prohibited the company's autonomous vehicles from operating on the state's streets last year. The autonomous vehicle, named Origin, was designed for ride-sharing and features no pedals or steering wheel. Instead, GM-owned Cruise will shift its focus to developing the next generation of the battery-run Chevrolet Bolt. The decision to pause production of the Origin resulted in a $605 million charge in the second quarter. Cruise has faced scrutiny following an incident in San Francisco where a pedestrian was hit by another vehicle and then by Cruise's autonomous robotaxi. The California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked permission for Cruise's driverless vehicles to operate on city streets due to misrepresentation of the crash details. Cruise's chief executive resigned amidst these challenges. Despite the suspension of the Origin project, General Motors reported strong financial performance in the second quarter, exceeding Wall Street's expectations and raising its guidance for the year.
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8 comments"I also want to recognize the progress Cruise has made over the last several months. Our vision to transform mobility using autonomous technology is unchanged, and every mile traveled, and every simulation, brings us closer because Cruise is an AI-first company.
As you know, Cruise has returned to the road in Houston, Phoenix and Dallas and we recently made several significant leadership appointments, including hiring Marc Whitten as CEO. Marc has decades of experience on the frontlines of technology transformations.
The Cruise team will also simplify their path to scale by focusing their next autonomous vehicle on the next-generation Chevrolet Bolt, instead of the Origin. This addresses the regulatory uncertainty we faced with the Origin because of its unique design. In addition, per-unit costs will be much lower, which will help Cruise optimize its resources."
https://investor.gm.com/news-releases/news-release-details/q...
On one hand, the mythical "drive anything, anywhere, anytime" wonder-system a typical consumer would want, could use and could afford is likely still more than 10 years away. On the other hand, there are a ton of narrower use cases the tech is now finally good enough to solve at viable scale and cost - starting as early as next year. Unfortunately, we're now over-reacting into the typical 'trough of disillusionment' of the tech hype cycle just as things are finally ready to start getting really interesting.
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