Cruise to Integrate into GM’s Broader Autonomous Vehicle Initiative
General Motors recently declared that it would no longer financially support Cruise, a self-driving startup bought by GM in 2016. On Tuesday, Cruise employees were informed via a message on Slack about what happened, and a virtual meeting was held to announce that Cruise would become part of GM’s initiatives to create driver-assistance technologies and personal autonomous vehicles. This decision poses a great risk to many GM employees as the company’s restructuring progresses.
The decision was announced on Cruise CEO Marc Whitten’s Slack post, which clearly stated that Cruise would no longer be an independent operating company. GM plans to integrate the company’s operation into the internal autonomous vehicle initiatives. The transition will entail integrating Cruise’s technology and capabilities with General Motors’ current efforts in advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and future personal vehicles.
The restructuring range is still being determined; however, the GM executives said it will take several months to transform. Employees were informed that organizational changes should be expected, but no details concerning the layoffs were given to them. Informants familiar with the company’s operations note that workers in positions unrelated to engineering, including those associated with robotaxi services, may be most at risk during this process.
Cruise experienced increased pressure due to its failure to monetize its robotaxi services. Although gaining important regulatory permissions in California in 2023, it has faced troubles: its permits were temporarily withdrawn after a collision with a pedestrian in San Francisco. A similar event resulted in the immobilization of Cruise’s fleet and organizational transformations: co-founder and former CEO Kyle Vogt resigned.
Some of its earlier goals were slowed down, such as expanding the business and outlook for many robotaxis and earning $50 billion annually by the decade’s end. In 2021, GM had high expectations for Cruise to establish dominance in the autonomous vehicle sector. However, its implementation was constrained by operational issues, regulatory interventions, and financial constraints.
Nonetheless, by June 2024, Cruise had acquired a $850 million investment from GM to resume robotaxi testing in Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston. The firm also collaborated with Uber to deploy robotaxi services in 2025. However, this funding seems inadequate to support Cruise’s operations while remaining a separate entity.
While GM sometimes guarantees its leaders’ statements that Cruise’s technology will always be relevant to the company’s vision of self-driving cars, workers are still worried about losing their jobs. Some of GM’s employees claimed they only heard about the decision through media announcements, without prior preparation.
