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General Motors will restart work on its driverless-vehicle program, a year after shelving production of the Cruise Origin robotaxi when one struck and dragged a woman about 20 feet.
GM confirmed the news in a statement to Gxstocks on Monday.
"We're accelerating the development of autonomous driving technology capable of operating without active human oversight, which includes building a team of autonomy experts," the company said. "Our LiDAR-equipped fleet is logging nationwide miles across the country, with trained safety drivers, capturing real-world insights to build simulation models that will guide development."
Bloomberg reported that sources familiar with the company’s plans said GM would be focusing on developing driverless cars for personal use instead of for a robotaxi service.
GM INDEFINITELY PAUSES CRUISE ORIGIN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE WHILE IT REFOCUSES UNIT
A Cruise, which is a driverless robot taxi, is seen during operation in San Francisco, California, on July 24, 2023. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The sources also reportedly told the media company that the first steps should be to develop hands-free and eyes-free driving with a human inside the vehicle, but ultimately the company is working to have a car that can drive without anyone at the wheel.
Sterling Anderson, who previously worked at Tesla as the Autopilot chief and joined GM this year, reportedly spoke during a private meeting with employees on Aug. 6, when he outlined the plans.
He said during the meeting that autonomy is the future, adding that GM will try to build a team of former Cruise workers and new staff to work on the upcoming initiative, the sources reportedly told Bloomberg.
ANALYSIS REVEALS HOW GM'S CRUISE ROBOTAXI STRUCK AND DRAGGED PEDESTRIAN 20 FEET
The General Motors world headquarters office is seen at Detroit's Renaissance Center. (Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images / Getty Images)
GM abandoned plans last year to produce its autonomous cab Cruise Origin indefinitely as it refocused efforts on the troubled unit.
GM CEO Mary Barra told shareholders in July 2024 that the automaker would be simplifying "their path to scale by focusing their next autonomous vehicle on the next-generation Chevrolet Bolt, instead of the Origin," which had been facing regulatory uncertainty because of its unique design.
Barra also noted that per-unit costs will also be much lower for the Chevrolet Bolt, helping the company "optimize its resources."
GM'S CRUISE CUTTING 24% OF WORKFORCE, FIRES 9 EXECS AMID ROBOTAXI SAFETY PROBE
Mary Barra said last year that General Motors would focus on the Chevrolet Bolt for autonomous capability, instead of Cruise Origin. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The American auto company had announced in January 2024 that it was planning to cut spending on the Cruise in half or by roughly $1 billion as it relaunched the unit following the previous year’s incident.
According to an analysis commissioned by GM, a series of technical failures were to blame for a crash in October 2023 in which a woman was struck and dragged by a Cruise robotaxi for 20 feet.
It marked a major setback for the entire autonomous vehicle industry as the company paused its driverless operations and several executives were dismissed.
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The crash also prompted an investigation by the Justice Department.
Gxstocks’ Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.
