Walmart partners GM's Cruise on self-driving delivery pilot in Arizona

[DETROIT] Walmart is adding Cruise, a majority-owned affiliate of US carmaker General Motors, to its roster of self-driving startup partners, in a pilot delivery programme early next year in Scottsdale, Arizona, the retailer said on Tuesday.

Walmart previously has partnered tech startups Flytrex, Nuro and Gatik on pilot delivery programmes with drones and self-driving vehicles in several US locations, and with Ford Motor in a Miami delivery pilot.

Cruise has been testing its self-driving vehicles for several years in San Francisco, as well as Phoenix. In addition to robotaxis, it has provided automated grocery delivery services to residents in San Francisco.

Backed by Honda Motor, SoftBank Group and T Rowe Price, Cruise told Reuters it is "laser-focused on making this first pilot successful with Walmart".

Cruise did not say how many vehicles will be deployed in the Walmart pilot.

Walmart announced the latest partnership in a blog post early Tuesday.

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REUTERS