GM's Self-Driving Cruise Eyes a Comeback

"General Motors' Cruise is attempting to get its self-driving cars back on the road. But for now, humans will stay in the driver's seat.

Cruise, which suspended driverless operations nationwide last October, said Tuesday that human-driven vehicles would start creating maps and gathering road information in Phoenix, with plans to expand to other cities. The vehicles will collect data on features such as speed limits, stop signs and traffic lights, the company said.

"Our goal is to earn trust and build partnerships with the communities such that, ultimately, we resume fully driverless operations in collaboration with a city," the company said in a blog post.

Cruise, one of the leaders in self-driving technology, faced several high-profile incidents before deciding to suspend services last year. Before the suspension, Cruise had about 400 self-driving cars operating in cities including Phoenix, Austin, Texas, and San Francisco.

Founded in 2013, Cruise was acquired by General Motors for about $1 billion in 2016. In June 2022, it became the first self-driving car company to offer paid rides to passengers in a major U.S. city.

The company drew scrutiny last October, when a woman was struck by a hit-and-run driver in San Francisco and landed in the path of a driverless Cruise car. The car attempted to pull over while the woman was still underneath it, traveling about 20 feet before coming to a stop. The woman was severely injured but survived.

The company said the vehicles were designed to perform such a maneuver to minimize risks after a collision. It later issued a voluntary recall for a software update that it said would stop a similar incident from happening again.

California's Department of Motor Vehicles revoked Cruise's autonomous-driving permit weeks after the incident, saying the vehicles weren't safe for public operation and the company misrepresented information about the safety of the technology. Cruise suspended driverless-car operations nationwide soon after.

The company said in the Tuesday blog post that it paused driverless operations to rebuild trust and redesign its safety protocols. It said it has made significant progress on those fronts.

The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating the company's handling of the accident. Cruise on Tuesday said it is cooperating fully with the investigations.

Nearly a dozen Cruise executives left the company in the months that followed, and approximately a quarter of employees were laid off." [1]

1. GM's Self-Driving Cruise Eyes a Comeback. Bhattacharya, Suryatapa.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 10 Apr 2024: B.4.