General Motors is renewing its efforts in autonomous driving, shifting its focus from its defunct Cruise robotaxi division to developing advanced driver-assistance systems for private vehicles.
The strategy is being shaped with input from Sterling Anderson, the former head of Tesla’s Autopilot programme, who joined GM as chief product officer earlier this year.
The U.S. automaker was once regarded as a leader in self-driving technology, having launched Cruise in 2016 with backing from Microsoft and Honda. However, a series of incidents in San Francisco in 2023, including a collision that left a pedestrian seriously injured, damaged the programme’s reputation. California regulators revoked Cruise’s testing permit, and the company’s then-CEO Kyle Vogt stepped down.
According to the New York Times, Cruise cost GM around $600 million per quarter in 2023. By the end of 2024, facing rising competition and mounting losses, GM wound down Cruise’s operations and reduced its workforce by about 1,000 employees. Bloomberg reported that GM is now targeting consumer-focused self-driving features instead of a robotaxi fleet.
Anderson has outlined plans for systems that will initially allow drivers to remove their hands from the wheel and travel without constant attention, with a long-term objective of achieving fully driverless operation. GM continues to gather development data using human-driven vehicles equipped with lidar, which feed simulation models for testing and refinement. CEO Mary Barra has reiterated that autonomous driving remains a priority for the company, alongside building a China-independent domestic battery supply chain.
