GM Shuts Down Cruise Robotaxi Unit and Shifts Autonomy Work to Personal Vehicles

General Motors ended its dedicated robotaxi division in 2024 after spending $10 billion on the unit it acquired in 2016. The company paused Cruise testing in California following a safety incident and later shut the division entirely. GM is now directing resources toward Super Cruise, its hands-off, eyes-on driver assistance system.

Customers have driven one billion hands-free miles with the feature as of April 2026. The company plans to introduce eyes-off highway driving in 2028, beginning with the Cadillac Escalade IQ. Sterling Anderson, GM's chief product officer and former head of Tesla's Autopilot program, said the company develops autonomy by breaking the driving task into segments that deliver the most value to owners.

That approach starts with long highway stretches before expanding to other roads. Anderson stated that the operating regions for personal autonomous vehicles and robotaxis will eventually match. "The two converge.

Our operating region looks identical to the operating region of a robotaxi company," he said. GM has rebuilt its autonomy team by hiring Ronalee Mann, a former Cruise and Tesla executive, and rehiring about 100 former Cruise employees. Anderson said the resulting vehicles will be capable of robotaxi service if demand emerges.

"We'll be ready for it. If that's where the world goes, our autonomous vehicles will be capable of being robotaxis as well," he said. Other companies continue separate robotaxi programs. Motional launched a robotaxi service with Uber in Las Vegas in 2026 and aims to offer fully driverless rides there by the end of the year.