According to the Associated Press, General Motors (GM) announced it would withdraw funding from the project and completely abandon robotaxis approximately a year after launching its fleet of self-driving cars on downtown Houston’s streets.
The action was taken just months after Cruise, a GM subsidiary based in California, declared it will resume testing in Houston following a workforce reorganization that followed the start of multiple federal safety investigations into the cars.
The fleet of roughly 50 Cruise cars remained motionless in a fenced-off area at the intersection of Roseland and West Alabama streets on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, emails sent to Cruise representatives were unsuccessful. Several emails asking for comment on Cruise’s operations in Houston were not answered by GM. Instead, a representative for Cruise sent a statement from Cruise CEO Marc Whitten.
Whitten stated that GM is working closely with the Cruise Board of Directors and the Cruise leadership team to determine the next course of action.
On Wednesday, it remained unclear what the decision may entail for Houston’s autonomous car operations or what would happen to the remaining fleet of vehicles in the city.
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Funding was removed from the losing operations on Tuesday, GM informed the Associated Press, due to the significant time and resources required to develop the business and the highly competitive robotaxi sector.
According to the AP, GM will instead concentrate on creating semi-automated, driver-assisted systems like Super Cruise, a hands-free driver support technology.
Despite ongoing investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration following multiple reports of the driverless cars injuring pedestrians, a Cruise representative told Houston Public Media in June that the company would relaunch in Houston with drivers behind the wheel to conduct street mapping.
Following Cruise’s insufficient reports of crashes involving its automated driving technologies, the administration announced a consent decree with the corporation in September.
According to the administration, two of these reports omitted post-crash information on a collision that occurred on October 2, 2023, in which a Cruise car with an ADS and no driver dragged a pedestrian about 20 feet before coming to a full stop.
Regulators in California suspended the company’s operating license as a result of the incident.
Cruise was forced to pay $1.5 million and submit a corrective action plan outlining how it will enhance its compliance as part of the consent decree.
As we continue to develop our AV technology, GM’s chief finance officer indicated at the time that the firm would spend $850 million in Cruise to help with operating cash needs. Months before Cruise was fired, that is.
The vehicles caused a significant bottleneck on Montrose Boulevard last year during their testing phase in Houston, where a car stopped in response to a faulty traffic light, sparking immediate criticism.
Following reports of the vehicles’ malfunctions, Cruise said in an open letter posted on its website that it has carefully reviewed standards, procedures, and systems under the direction of professional external reviews.
Some autonomous vehicles remain in Houston
Earlier this month, the autonomous driving technology startup Nuro declared that it would use an artificial intelligence driver system for its driverless cars and extend its coverage area in Houston.
In an attempt to expand its deployment area by 70 percent, the extra vehicles will run completely without a driver, a Nuro representative told Houston Public Media last week.
In Houston, Nuro’s cars are currently employed for food delivery services for businesses like Kroger, Uber Eats, and Domino’s rather than ride-hailing services like Cruise. Improved handling of difficult scenarios, night operations, and multi-lane road operations with top speeds of 35 mph are all part of Nuro’s latest expansion.
RELATED: Houston-based Nuro, a self-driving car startup, is expanding its AI-enabled, occupant-free fleet
“We have an R&D fleet of Toyota Priuses with the same hardware and software for autonomous mapping and testing in the Houston area in addition to our zero-occupant vehicles,” Nuro stated. These Priuses have safety drivers installed.
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