General Motors announced Tuesday that it is slamming the brakes on its Cruise robotaxi program, dealing a blow to the automaker's plans to place advanced technology at the forefront of its business development.
GM said it would no longer fund the controversial robotaxi project due to the "considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business, along with an increasingly competitive robotaxi market," the company told the Wall Street Journal.
The timing of the surprising move comes after Cruise pleaded guilty last month to submitting a false report to influence a federal investigation. Cruise was ordered to pay a $500,000 criminal fine to settle the case.
The Department of Justice said Cruise failed to disclose details of an October 2023 crash in San Francisco, where one of its robotaxis struck and seriously injured a pedestrian.
GM expects the move to cut spending by more than $1 billion annually after the plan is completed by the end of June, the statement said.
