General Motors appoints new CEO to steer troubled Cruise robotaxi unit

On Tuesday, General Motors said Marc Whitten, a technology executive with video game industry background, will step in as CEO of Cruise, its autonomous vehicle unit. Whitten, credited as the mastermind behind the Xbox video game console, joins Cruise at a time when the autonomous vehicle start-up was last involved in a major accident last year in San Francisco.

This is true especially when in October 2023, the Cruise robotaxi ran over a jaywalking pedestrian who had been struck by another car and dragged him on the Asphalt, making safety regulators in California pull the license to operate in San Francisco. Even though the company had received permission to test the driverless service before, authorities in the area and other regulators expressed concerns over its safety and the problems within the function of the autonomous system.

The consequences of the incident have been grave for General Motors, especially because the company had very high goals for Cruise, with the goal of achieving one billion in revenue per year by 2025. Later the company cut down on its investment on the robotaxi service and this later on led to dismissal of 900 employees. Further, the escaping of Kyle Vogt, the co-founder and the former CEO of Cruise, soon after the occurrence pointed to more troubles to the firm.

Work on Whitten began simultaneously with a significant event for Cruise’s competitor Waymo, which shared on the same day that its driverless cars were opened to anyone in San Francisco, although previously, access to them was lim ited to a vast number of people. Owner-driver Waymo, tested in Phoenix now for a few years without serious accidents, provided a free software update after an accident with a telephone pole.

However, Whitten had positive sentiments to Crusoe with special focus on improving the transport sector safety through the use of Autonomy. About future difficulties, he recognised trials of the further investigations by the US Justice Department and California’s fines for the accident occurred in October 2023.

In his statement, Whitten highlighted the opportunity to contribute to a transformative vision at Cruise, leveraging the company's advanced technology to realise safer transportation alternatives. His background at Amazon and Sonos, in addition to his pivotal role at Xbox, positions Whitten to lead Cruise through its current challenges and toward its long-term goals.