Cruise

[diplomat33]

People don't pay attention to driving now. Do they really expect someone who is Texting or on TicTok to pay attention and take over at a moments notice?

If the driver has to take over at a moments notice then the system is "eyes on", meaning that they are not allowed to take their eyes off the road in the first place. So in that system, the driver would not be allowed to text or be on tiktok in the first place, they would need to keep their eyes on the road all the time. Only if the system is "eyes off" are they are allowed to text or watch tiktok. And if the system is "eyes off", the driver never needs to take over at a moments notice. In "eyes off", the driver always gets several seconds warning before they need to take over.

 

[spacecoin]

New leader of GM's Cruise acknowledges 'all-time low' amid safety review:

Exclusive: New leader of GM's Cruise acknowledges 'all-time low' amid safety review

General Motors’ Cruise autonomous vehicle unit has hit an “all time low,” said its new leader, while promising to restore trust with regulators and the public after the company pulled all of its vehicles from U.S. roads.

www.reuters.com

 

[EVNow]

If the driver has to take over at a moments notice then the system is "eyes on", meaning that they are not allowed to take their eyes off the road in the first place. So in that system, the driver would not be allowed to text or be on tiktok in the first place, they would need to keep their eyes on the road all the time. Only if the system is "eyes off" are they are allowed to text or watch tiktok. And if the system is "eyes off", the driver never needs to take over at a moments notice. In "eyes off", the driver always gets several seconds warning before they need to take over.

Actually if you watch Tiktok - the car would stop (or so the congress thinks). Afterall foreign companies shouldn't be allowed to challenge the hegemony.

 

[spacecoin]

Heads are rolling…

https://x.com/mikewayland/status/1735078306079207780

GM's Cruise robotaxi unit dismisses nine ‘key leaders’ amid safety investigation

The departures include leaders from Cruise's legal, government affairs, commercial operations and safety and systems teams, according to a company-wide message.

www.cnbc.com

 

[DanCar]

Heads are rolling…

https://x.com/mikewayland/status/1735078306079207780

GM's Cruise robotaxi unit dismisses nine ‘key leaders’ amid safety investigation

The departures include leaders from Cruise's legal, government affairs, commercial operations and safety and systems teams, according to a company-wide message.

www.cnbc.com

Wow!

 

[HVM]

GM Cruise executives booted out as robotaxi probe deepens

Nine executives have been dismissed from General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)'s Cruise robotaxi wing following the start of a probe into the safety of the...

www.proactiveinvestors.com

"Nine executives have been dismissed from General Motors Company (NYSE:GM)'s Cruise robotaxi wing following the start of a probe into the safety of the firm’s automated technology.

Chief operating officer Gil West was among those dismissed, according to a memo seen by Reuters, as Cruise eyes new leadership following the disastrous rollout and subsequent barring of its automated taxis from California's roads."

 

[diplomat33]

More layoffs:

scoops: Cruise lays off 24% of staff or about 900 workers ... story is developing ... stay tuned.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1735327638150107334

 

[EVNow]

More layoffs:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1735327638150107334

Looks like destined for a private equity take over at this point ...

Shows that all that it takes is one bad accident / coverup ... all the skeletons in the cupboard fall out (all companies have skeletons - just that we don't get to see those).

Transparency is the key - only that can help the company survive a bad accident.

 

[kabin]

Looks like destined for a private equity take over at this point ...

Shows that all that it takes is one bad accident / coverup ... all the skeletons in the cupboard fall out (all companies have skeletons - just that we don't get to see those).

Transparency is the key - only that can help the company survive a bad accident.

Yes, transparency is key.

Tough times for GM given the reduced plans for EVs and Cruise. On the other hand, GM has been committed to the vehicle autonomy biz for so long it would be almost impossible to dump it now.

 

[kabin]

This would help offset costs.

GM goes to war against San Francisco over a $108 million tax bill it says it doesn't owe because it has virtually no business or employees in the city

The company said that San Francisco used the presence of its Cruise self-driving unit to tie its tax bill to a portion of GM’s global revenue.

fortune.com

 

[stopcrazypp]

This would help offset costs.

GM goes to war against San Francisco over a $108 million tax bill it says it doesn't owe because it has virtually no business or employees in the city

The company said that San Francisco used the presence of its Cruise self-driving unit to tie its tax bill to a portion of GM’s global revenue.

fortune.com

Looks like they are disputing the payroll tax that SF have had for a while, claiming because the revenue of the company is low, they shouldn't be taxed based on payroll. If they win, this would have implications beyond just Cruise or GM, but the whole taxing scheme SF uses.

 

[voyager]

"... it’s not clear if companies like GM want to see the future of transportation change.
They’ve been doing fine for a century making cars and may want to not see that turned
upside down. But if they don’t, somebody else will, and leave them behind."

Robocar 2023 In Review: The Fall Of Cruise

The biggest self-driving story of 2023 was the fall of Cruise. Here's in-depth analysis of that fall and where they might go

www.forbes.com

 

[diplomat33]

"... it’s not clear if companies like GM want to see the future of transportation change.
They’ve been doing fine for a century making cars and may want to not see that turned
upside down. But if they don’t, somebody else will, and leave them behind."

Robocar 2023 In Review: The Fall Of Cruise

The biggest self-driving story of 2023 was the fall of Cruise. Here's in-depth analysis of that fall and where they might go

www.forbes.com

It is not just robotaxis, GM has shown very little innovation or ambition with EVs either. And yes, they will be left behind. In fact, GM is already being left behind. We are seeing new companies like Lucid, Zeekr, NIO, Polestar, Xpeng, Xiaomi putting out innovated and stylish EVs with various advanced ADAS.

 

[stopcrazypp]

"... it’s not clear if companies like GM want to see the future of transportation change.
They’ve been doing fine for a century making cars and may want to not see that turned
upside down. But if they don’t, somebody else will, and leave them behind."

Robocar 2023 In Review: The Fall Of Cruise

The biggest self-driving story of 2023 was the fall of Cruise. Here's in-depth analysis of that fall and where they might go

www.forbes.com

It is not just robotaxis, GM has shown very little innovation or ambition with EVs either. And yes, they will be left behind. In fact, GM is already being left behind. We are seeing new companies like Lucid, Zeekr, NIO, Polestar, Xpeng, Xiaomi putting out innovated and stylish EVs with various advanced ADAS.

The whole article was about Cruise shutdown, but I'm not sure the concluding remarks necessarily follow from the actual body. The only suggestion of how GM may have contributed is supposed pressure to deliver results, but I highly doubt Waymo had zero pressure from Alphabet either (as I noted before, Alphabet has a history of suddenly shutting down projects that don't deliver results).

Instead, what led up to the closure (the coverup) seems to be more typical Silicon Valley culture, which is to heavily promote the positives, while covering up any negatives. Leading up to it, GM had Cruise operating fairly independently, with no indication they went ahead with original plans to integrate them more into GM (namely to incorporate the tech into GM ADAS). If instead, GM took a more hands on approach, there is a very real possibility Cruise wouldn't have been shutdown.

From the article, it's very clear they deliberately hid things from the media, only showing the parts of the clips without the dragging and not mentioning it even when specifically asked about what happened afterwards. There is some dispute about whether they showed a full clip to regulators, but given their actions, it's likely even if they did, they did it in a way that would conceal the dragging having happened (even though they were fully aware it did).

 

[Supcom]

Instead, what led up to the closure (the coverup) seems to be more typical Silicon Valley culture, which is to heavily promote the positives, while covering up any negatives.

This is, by no means, a unique characteristic of Silicon Valley.

 

[Doggydogworld]

It is not just robotaxis, GM has shown very little innovation or ambition with EVs either.

I'd argue GM has shown a lot of ambition with EVs, just very little competence.

This is, by no means, a unique characteristic of Silicon Valley.

True, but "fake it 'til you make it" is much more prevalent in tech than other sectors.

 

[voyager]

1 AV technology hasn’t brought what was projected years ago
2 Hard to influence: traffic situation and the set of rules and regulations
3 But what about the car itself?

A driverless vehicle or robo taxi could be a lot smaller, therefore form less of a safety threat to pedestrians etc. to begin with.
Particularly since the average car trip involve carrying 1.2 person. I know that I am not taken seriously (since largely ignored),
but that GM cancelled the Origin, the block of 'rolling real estate' Cruise tried to sell GM fanatically, says enough IMO.

I wrote this comment below the article. Forbes and/or author Brad Templeton had it removed. Sad.

 

[Tam]

1 AV technology hasn’t brought what was projected years ago
2 Hard to influence: traffic situation and the set of rules and regulations
3 But what about the car itself?

A driverless vehicle or robo taxi could be a lot smaller, therefore form less of a safety threat to pedestrians etc. to begin with.
Particularly since the average car trip involve carrying 1.2 person. I know that I am not taken seriously (since largely ignored),
but that GM cancelled the Origin, the block of 'rolling real estate' Cruise tried to sell GM fanatically, says enough IMO.

I wrote this comment below the article. Forbes and/or author Brad Templeton had it removed. Sad.

A consumer robotaxi does not have to be big but commercial ones need to accommodate wheelchairs.

AI is not smart enough for a long time. That's why NTSB wants V2X even before all the hyped and AI.

I think that's the right way to go while waiting for AI competency.

 

[voyager]

A consumer robotaxi does not have to be big but commercial ones need to accommodate wheelchairs.

AI is not smart enough for a long time. That's why NTSB wants V2X even before all the hyped and AI.

I think that's the right way to go while waiting for AI competency.

The more reason to dfferentiate between shuttle-like robo-taxis, so they can carry more people on one trip including wheelchairs,
and smaller pod-like taxis. The average (robo) taxi trip consists of carrying 1.2 person. I envisage a three-seater.

Better deploy something smaller for the smaller passenger loads.
It will be easier to deploy autonomously, will be more economical, have faster response and transit times,
pose less of a risk to other road users and be less obstructive to other traffic in case something goes wrong.

 

[willow_hiller]

This would be an tiny slap on the wrist if Cruise is actually able to resolve the investigation with a $75k fine: Cruise wants to pay $75,000 to end an investigation into its crash response