GM to cut spending on Cruise after accident

GENERAL Motors is to scale back spending on its self-driving unit Cruise after a pedestrian accident last month, Financial Times reported on Tuesday (Nov 28).

GM and Cruise did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for a comment.

In October, one of Cruise’s driverless cabs was not able to stop in time from hitting a pedestrian who had been struck by a hit-and-run driver, raising safety concerns around the use of robotaxis.

Cruise in November paused all supervised and manual car trips in the United States while also expanding a safety review of its robotaxis, causing tumult within the company and compelling CEO Kyle Vogt and chief product officer Daniel Kan to step down.

GM’s robotaxi unit last week said it was planning to re-launch in one unspecified city before expanding to others and would focus on its Bolt-based Cruise autonomous vehicles in the near term. REUTERS