Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Cruise will always be known as the robotaxi company to burn $15B to completely piss off both every resident of San Francisco and all of the government regulators…
Fortune article on how GM is exploring whether they can get others to bail out Cruise by claiming that it is an AI company, since that is where the money currently is. And still, no plan for restarting actual service.
Cruise posts an update on their blog indicating that they are doing all this great stuff with respect to safety, yet there is absolutely no new information. Why on earth did they post this article??
The Cruise Origin was hyped as being the future of robotaxis, providing low-cost service to everyone, including to people with disabilities. But it turns out it was indeed just hype, and now is a cancelled project. This means more though then just warehousing a bunch of unpermitted vehicles. It means that Cruise has no way of ever succeeding as a business.
New York Magazine article. Apple canceled their EV/AV program, simply because they could not make it workable. Despite the hype, self-driving is far more complicated than most people thought. A bit of successful self-driving doesn't mean that the fantasy can or should always work.
GM has drastically lowered the value of Cruise by billions and billions of dollars. Cruise valuation dropped roughly from $30 billion to $15 billion. And GM is taking a loss of about $11.6 billion.
Article from SF Examiner on how the City of San Francisco is objecting to Cruise's proposal to the CPUC to end the investigation into the incident where Cruise vehicle hit and dragged a pedestrian.
It isn’t looking good. It has been 4 months since their epic disaster of seriously injuring a pedestrian, misinforming regulators and the public, and shutting down service. They have pushed out almost all of their executives and a quarter of their staff. And they do not appear to have a recovery plan. Things do not look good. One has to expect Cruise to be sold in a fire sale or simply abandoned by the end of 2024. This post covers a few recent factors that point in this direction.
Robotaxi disruptions for emergency responders have fallen significantly for the last 6 months. This is due to Cruise suspending operations, and because Waymo is now more careful to avoid geolocated incidences. Also, Waymo now gives emergency responders ability to manually move a vehicle.
Cruise is reportedly nearing resuming robotaxi testing in Houston or Dallas. There is no schedule and currently deliberations continue. They will use "safety drivers" (which is of course expensive).
The Giants can have a winning season again. They finally got rid of the Cruise patches! Boy, that sure was cringeworthy.
An analysis by Michael Smith on the Quinn Emanuel Report (QER) on the October 2nd, 2023 crash where a pedestrian was dragged and seriously injured. The report was commissioned by Cruise to determine what went wrong and how to address the problems, both technical and operational. But the QER failed to address the most important issues and is therefore not an indication that Cruise is moving forward with improving safety.
General Motors is slashing Cruise's 2024 budget by $1 billion despite a commitment to its robotaxi venture. Following an accident resulting in investigations, GM seeks to refocus Cruise, now enduring a $2.7 billion loss and restructuring. CEO Barra emphasizes safety and talent retention, as expansion plans are paused.
A summary of the commentary by Missy Cummings on why the Quinn Emanuel Report released by Cruise did not adequately cover deficiencies in Cruise's remote operations. The deficiencies were significant and need to be addressed by regulators. Link provided to Cummings full article.
An investigation by Quinn Emanuel law firm into an October crash involving a Cruise driverless car revealed a lack of clear communication with regulators and prioritization of reputation over safety. Following the incident, the Justice Department and other agencies are investigating, Cruise has halted operations, laid off staff, and replaced its CEO. The self-driving subsidiary of General Motors is now seeking to rebuild trust and resume business..
In a blog post, Cruise published the detailed Quinn Emanuel report on the October 2nd crash where a pedestrian was struck by a Cruise AV after a hit-and-run incident. Despite Cruise's claim of no intentional deceit, the report uncovers procedural and leadership shortcomings, leading to misinformation and incomplete disclosures to regulators and the media. This resulted in the suspension of Cruise's driverless permits. Changes including high-level employee departures and operational overhauls are being implemented.
