General Motors has appointed a seasoned tech executive, with a background in the video game industry, to lead its beleaguered self-driving taxi service Cruise as it seeks to bounce back from a horrific accident that led to the suspension of its California license.
Marc Whitten, one of the key engineers behind the Xbox video game console, will step into the role of Cruise's chief executive nearly nine months after an incident where one of the service's autonomous taxis dragged a jaywalking pedestrian - who had just been hit by a human-driven vehicle - across a dimly lit street in San Francisco before halting.
This shocking incident in early October 2023 led California regulators to put a stop to Cruise's autonomous taxis in San Francisco. Despite objections from local government officials pointing out flaws in the driverless technology, the service had previously been given the green light to charge for rides throughout the second most densely populated city in the US.
General Motors, which had projected that Cruise would be bringing in $1billion in annual revenue by 2025, has since scaled back its substantial investments in the autonomous taxi service. The cutbacks resulted in 900 workers being made redundant just weeks after Cruise co-founder and former CEO Kyle Vogt stepped down from his position following the crash that hospitalised the pedestrian.
The same day that Cruise welcomed new leadership, rival autonomous taxi service Waymo announced its driverless vehicles are now available to the general public in San Francisco. Previously, Waymo only accepted ride requests from a waiting list of 300,000 people. San Francisco is the second major city where Waymo's robotaxis are open to all, following Phoenix, where the autonomous vehicles have been operating for several years.
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Despite no collisions like the one that halted Cruise, Waymo recently issued a voluntary recall requiring a software update across its fleet after one of its robotaxis hit a telephone pole in Phoenix. Whitten, who has experience working at Amazon and Sonos, will be stepping into a role with significant challenges ahead. Earlier this year, General Motors revealed that the US Justice Department has launched an investigation into Cruise's handling of an October crash in San Francisco.
California regulators also fined Cruise $112,000 for its response to the collision. In a statement, Whitten expressed his belief that Cruise can make transportation safer than it currently is with human drivers.
Whitten said "It is an opportunity of a lifetime to be part of this transformation. The team at Cruise has built world-class technology, and I look forward to working with them to help bring this critical mission to life."
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