GM's Cruise Moves to Consolidate with Layoffs

General Motors' (GM) autonomous Cruise subsidiary won't be autonomous in the future. GM plans to layoff roughly 50 percent of its approximately 2,000 employees as it finishes formerly acquiring the group and bringing it fully under GM control.

While the move wasn't a complete surprise, it could reflect a growing concern in Detroit that with Tesla's Elon Musk acting as co-president of the U.S. that the environment for autonomous vehicles is about to change. Many expect that the NHTSA investigations into the safety of Tesla's semi-autonomous software will be terminated and that any potential regulatory obstacles to the sale of self-driving cars will also go by the wayside.

GM already boasts what is the closest system to self-driving operation available to consumers, its Super Cruise hands-free option available on many models. So bringing what will be left of the Cruise team in house does make sense--if you think autonomous vehicles will soon make the transition from being novelties to standard options. Indeed, GM's move seemed to reaffirm that it is moving away from the robotaxi model and toward selling autonomous cars directly to consumers.

The GM changes seem to leave the robotaxi field wide open for Google's Waymo (er, Alphabet's Waymo). While there are numerous other players in the field, from May Mobility to Zoox, many potential competitors in that area are mainly focused on related niche markets (such as subsidized public transportation solutions). No word yet on when you'll be able to buy a self-driving Caddy.