Cruise lays off nearly a quarter of its staff after grounding its robotaxi fleet
by Andrew J. Hawkins from The Verge - All Posts on (#6H54W)
Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images Cruise, the self-driving unit of General Motors, will lay off nearly a quarter of its employees, or 900 workers, after grounding its fleet in response to an incident in which a hit-and-run victim became pinned under a Cruise vehicle and then was dragged 20 feet to the side of the road.
After the incident, the California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Cruise's permit to operate driverless cars in the state. The company then grounded its entire fleet nationwide. (It had vehicles in Arizona, Texas, and Florida as well.) In response to the pause in operations, GM said it would reduce spending on Cruise and appoint its own executives to oversee the company.
In response, several top executives have left the company, including...