Cruise robotaxis in crisis: layoffs, algorithm had blind spot for kids

Table Of Content

• GM's Cruise slashes contractor roles after driverless car suspension
• Media Services
• Effective Tools to Enhance Employee Engagement and Retention
• Crisis At Cruise: Robotaxi CEO Confirms Coming Layoffs Amid Scramble To Rebuild Public Trust
• The total beginner’s guide: Scoring shrooms in San Francisco, 7 different ways
• Cruise robotaxis in crisis: Layoffs, recall, and algorithm found to have blind spot for kids

And financial pressures have been mounting for start-ups that sell sensors and other technology to self-driving car companies. Cruise’s troubles can be traced to an Oct. 2 crash when a car hit a woman at an intersection in San Francisco and flung her into the path of one of Cruise’s driverless taxis. The Cruise car dragged the woman some 20 feet before pulling to the curb, causing severe injuries. Regulators accused Cruise of omitting footage of its car dragging the woman from a video that it provided to state officials. What's nextAs mentioned, in a few moments, you will receive an email letting you know whether or not you are affected by this staffing reduction, and if you are impacted, you will get details about what happens next. I am so sorry we have to do this by email, as I would prefer that we have a conversation with each of you.

GM's Cruise slashes contractor roles after driverless car suspension

A company blog post said that 24 percent of full-time Cruise employees will be let go, with a focus on field and commercial operations, and corporate staffing, though some engineers are also affected. The company had already cut last month a portion of its contingent workforce who kept self-driving vehicles clean, charged, and maintained. Today, we are making staff reductions that will affect 24% of full-time Cruisers, through no fault of their own. We are simplifying and focusing our efforts to return with an exceptional service in one city to start with and focusing on the Bolt platform for this first step before we scale.

Media Services

The sacking of around 900 employees is the latest blow to the General Motors-owned company still reeling from the impact of an Oct. 2 incident in San Francisco, where a Cruise vehicle struck and dragged a woman nearly 20 feet after she was first hit by a human-driven vehicle. GM Cruise on Thursday announced internally that it will lay off 900 employees, or 24% of its workforce. Cruise layoffs will affect around 24% of its workforce as it works to restructure operations following an accident that forced it to halt U.S. testing, the company said on Thursday.

Effective Tools to Enhance Employee Engagement and Retention

And a humbled CEO Kyle Vogt confirmed to employees that the company will need to do layoffs. General Motors’ troubled Cruise autonomous vehicle unit is cutting over 900 jobs, about a quarter of its workforce, as it moves to reduce costs and remake itself after a grisly accident in San Francisco and subsequent regulatory scrutiny. Early last month, the company recalled all its robotaxis, which it had been testing on roads in California, and regulators accused Cruise of hiding the severity of the incident.

Engineering, a category that makes up the bulk of the Cruise workforce, is largely being preserved, according to the content of the email and discussions with internal sources. This week, the company, which has 4,000 employees, started laying off contingent workers who support the driverless fleet, with more layoffs to follow, according to TechCrunch. Cruise wants to “enhance our safety standards and processes before we scale,” company co-president and CTO Mo ElShenawy wrote in a letter to employees announcing the layoffs today.

Massive Layoffs Hit Troubled Robotaxi Developer Cruise - WIRED

Massive Layoffs Hit Troubled Robotaxi Developer Cruise.

Posted: Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Robotaxi

“We are simplifying and focusing our efforts to return with an exceptional service in one city to start with,” ElShenawy wrote. “As a result of our decision to slow down commercialization, we are restructuring to focus on delivering the improvements to our tech and vehicle performance that will build trust in our AVs [autonomous vehicles],” the letter said. The news follows a barrage of safety concerns and incidents since Cruise, owned by General Motors, received approval in August for round-the-clock robotaxi service in San Francisco. In October, the California Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday suspended Cruise's deployment and testing permits for its autonomous vehicles, effective immediately. Cruise is targeting non-engineering jobs in the layoffs, particularly those people who worked in the field, commercial operations and corporate staffing, according to the email. The company has also ended additional assignments of contingent workers who supported its driverless operations.

The total beginner’s guide: Scoring shrooms in San Francisco, 7 different ways

Affected employees were primarily in the company’s commercial operations division, as well as related corporate functions, a spokesperson said. Following the resignation of Vogt, Mo Elshenawy, the company’s VP for engineering, was promoted to president and chief technology officer. 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.

GM's Cruise laying off 900 employees, or 24% of its workforce: Read the memo here - CNBC

GM's Cruise laying off 900 employees, or 24% of its workforce: Read the memo here.

Posted: Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

I'm thankful we had the chance to work together, and I know I speak on behalf of so many Cruisers who will be reaching out to those departing to help with our professional networks and references. On behalf of the SLT, the Cruise Board and GM, I'm truly grateful to everyone who has played a role in building Cruise and who has poured so much into the promise of making our roads safer and our world better. We knew this day was coming, but that does not make it any less difficult—especially for those whose jobs are affected.

GM's Cruise laying off 900 employees, or 24% of its workforce: Read the memo here

This is very different from our prior plans to expand into more than a dozen new cities in 2024. California regulators said the company's vehicles posed "an unreasonable risk to public safety." And internal documents recently showed that Cruise apparently knew that its driverless cars had trouble correctly identifying children. Elshenawy was listed as the author of the memo informing staff of the layoffs, which offered details about severance, benefits and career support. Laid-off Cruise employees are being offered at least 16 weeks of pay after their departures.

The agencies suspended Cruise’s permits after an October 2 incident, in which a pedestrian who was struck by a human driver and then landed in the adjacent lane, was then run over by a  Cruise robotaxi. The robotaxi initiated its brakes and came to a stop with the pedestrian under the vehicle. That final decision by the robotaxi to attempt to pull over was part of the reason the agencies decided to suspend the permit. The company told employees the decision was made for a few reasons, including that driverless operations had been paused or “deprioritized as we focus on supervised driving for the time being,” according to an internal message sent early Thursday morning and viewed by TechCrunch. Cruise co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt told employees during an all-hands meeting Monday that layoffs were coming, sources who were on the call told TechCrunch.

Weeks following the October mishap, California’s department of motor vehicles in effect shut down the robotaxi service by suspending its license to operate in the state. The employment actions come following an initial analysis of the 2 October crash and the company response after a Cruise robotaxi ran over and injured a pedestrian who had been hit by another vehicle driven by a human. Cruise told CNBC that the layoffs are reflective of its current supervised driving operations, adding that the company plans to resume driverless service but that it does not have a specific timeline to share. McNeill, who joined the Cruise board recently and was previously chief operating officer at Lyft and president of Tesla, now serves alongside GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra.