GM’s Cruise Resumes Houston Robotaxi Testing After $850 Million Commitment to Improve It: Tech : Tech Times

General Motors’ Cruise will see the return of testing its robotaxi services in Houston, Texas, after the company recently suspended its operations in a new update. However, it wouldn’t be a completely autonomous operation for Cruise, as this time it will be supervised driving, the company explains, meaning a human driver would be behind the wheel for the time being .

This follows the company’s recent commitment to invest $850 million to improve its technology and services.

GM’s Cruise Resumes Robotaxi Testing in Houston

In the latest update to Cruise’s previous press release regarding the resumption of its services, the company announced its return to Houston as part of its robotaxi test operations. As of this writing, Cruise has resumed operations with manual driving, meaning it operates with human drivers fully controlling the vehicles in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as Houston and Dallas, Texas.

The company announced that it will soon resume supervised driving for its robotaxi operations in Phoenix and Dallas. This would mean its self-driving technology would take the wheel, with a human driver on board.

It hasn’t yet been revealed when Cruise will resume supervised driving and fully autonomous travel, but it’s in the works.

Read also: GM’s Cruise to launch Robotaxis in Arizona with human safety drivers

$850 million commitment to improve cruises

This latest resumption of Cruise’s Houston operations came after General Motors promised a new $850 million budget for the subsidiary, according to The Verge. The announcement was made at Deutsche Bank’s Global Automotive Industry Conference held in New York. GM Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said this relates to Cruise’s operational costs at the time of his return.

General Motors Cruise

In October 2023, Cruise shut down its nationwide operations for the first time due to safety concerns, following a recent pedestrian accident that affected its service. This is a voluntary suspension of its services in cities after California revoked its license to operate in the state following safety concerns.

The company then decided to relaunch the service in Texas, focusing on the three cities in which it operates, including Austin, Dallas and Houston. This was also after a change in leadership after Kyle Vogt stepped down as CEO, following scrutiny of his management after a series of unfortunate events Cruise faced.

However, Cruise’s return wouldn’t immediately return to the self-driving experience; instead, it would first focus on a supervised robotaxi service with human drivers. After restarting operations in Dallas and Phoenix, Arizona, Cruise is now adding a new city where it will resume its robotaxi testing, with Houston next in line, following GM’s massive investment.

Related article: Cruise to resume Robotaxis testing in Dallas after withdrawing its entire US fleet last year

ⓒ 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.