At the Deutsche Bank’s Global Auto Industry Conference in New York, GM’s chief financial officer Paul Jacobson revealed the company’s plan to invest an additional $850 million into its self-driving subsidiary, Cruise.
This move aims to support Cruise’s operational costs as it resumes testing activities, following a pause triggered by a San Francisco accident involving one of its self-driving taxis last year.
Jacobson stated, “We are going to put $850 million into Cruise this month. That will be what I would consider to be like a step financing.” He acknowledged the need for further funding, mentioning, “Given a lot of the repositioning that we’ve done and now relaunching, going forward it’s kind of a pay as you go, but this buys us time to continue to pursue our strategic review going through how we’re going to think about Cruise’s future as they continue to make good progress getting back to autonomous and fully autonomous driving.”
Despite previously announced plans to reduce spending in Cruise by $1 billion over 2024, GM’s decision to inject additional capital underscores its commitment to the self-driving venture.
Jacobson emphasized the importance of this phase, stating, “This is a really important R&D phase, not just for the notion of robotaxi, but ultimately for personal autonomy.”
The accident in October led to a series of setbacks for Cruise, including the suspension of all operations, loss of licenses to operate in California, and the departure of key executives. However, Jacobson expressed confidence in Cruise’s capabilities, noting that before the incident, Cruise had logged almost six million driverless miles.
