Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
CBS San Francisco
Cruise to dispatch some of its trouble-ridden robotaxis to join Uber's ride-hailing service
By CBS San Francisco,
20 hours ago
Cruise offers to settle San Francisco pedestrian crash investigation 00:40
Cruise's trouble-ridden robotaxis are joining Uber's ride-hailing service next year as part of a multiyear partnership bringing together two companies that once appeared poised to compete for passengers.
The incident spurred regulatory inquiries into Cruise and prompted its corporate parent, automaker General Motors, to tamp down its once audacious ambitions in autonomous driving.
GM had envisioned Cruise generating $1 billion in annual revenue by 2025 as its robotaxis steadily expanded beyond San Francisco and into other cities to offer a driverless alternative to the ride-hailing services operated by Uber and Lyft.
But now GM and Cruise are looking to make money by mixing the robotaxis with Uber's human-driven cars, giving passengers the option to ask for an autonomous ride if they want. The financial details of the partnership weren't disclosed, nor were the cities in which Uber intends to offer Cruise's robotaxis next year.
Unless something changes, California won't be in the mix of options because Cruise's license remains suspended in the state.
"Cruise is on a mission to leverage driverless technology to create safer streets and redefine urban life," said Cruise CEO Marc Whitten, who is filling a void created after Cruise founder Kyle Vogt stepped down in the fallout from the California license suspension.
GM also laid off hundreds of employees in the California blowback as part of its financial belt-tightening after sustaining $5.8 billion in losses on the robotaxi service from 2021 to 2023. The Detroit automaker sustained another operating loss of $900 million on Cruise during the first half of this year, but that was down from nearly $1.2 billion at the same point last year.
Despite Cruise's recent woes, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expressed confidence the ride-hailing service could get the robotaxis back on the right track.
"We believe Uber can play an important role in helping to safely and reliably introduce autonomous technology to consumers and cities around the world," Khosrowshahi said.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0