Cruise Automation Making Big Autonomous Plans As GM Agrees to Acquire Startup

Jennifer van der Kleut

Cruise Automation is wasting no time making big plans for autonomous drive technology development after General Motors (GM) agreed to buy the Silicon Valley startup earlier this month.

According to Nasdaq.com, the deal is expected to close by the middle of this year.

Nasdaq also reports that the deal is contingent upon Cruise reaching a few milestones, though the specifics were not reported. Cruise reportedly still hopes to operate largely independent of GM and retain its top engineers.

Detroit News reports that Cruise is already making big plans, including hiring a slew of new autonomous car engineers. Cruise will reportedly continue to be based in San Francisco, where it has been working for the past three years developing and testing autonomous car technology on San Francisco streets.

GM reportedly plans to “invest significantly” in growing Cruise Automation’s business.

“GM’s commitment to autonomous vehicles is inspiring, deliberate, and completely in line with our vision to make transportation safer and more accessible,” Kyle Vogt, co-founder of Cruise Automation, said in a statement, as quoted by Detroit News. “We are excited to be partnering with GM and believe this is a ground-breaking and necessary step toward rapidly commercializing autonomous vehicle technology.”

Cruise Automation is just one move GM has made in the past year, as it looks to aggressively pursue autonomous car development. Just a few months ago, GM invested $500 million in Lyft, a ride-hailing app similar to Uber, and it announced a car-sharing business similar to ZipCar in Ann Arbor, Michigan called Maven, which it hopes will prove popular with college students.

Jim Scheinman, founder of Maven, said he invested in Cruise as well some time ago. He hoped progress such as GM’s acquisition of the company will show the world that Google isn’t the only dog in the autonomous race.

Nasdaq analysts say GM has advanced significantly in the driverless race through strategic partnerships.

“GM itself is in transition. Long relying on parts suppliers, such as Delphi Automotive PLC, to deliver the latest technologies, the company is now more interested in direct partnerships or developing expertise in-house,” Nasdaq reported.

GM is committed to bringing autonomous technology to the masses.

“Fully autonomous vehicles can bring our customers enormous benefits in terms of greater convenience, lower cost and improved safety for their daily mobility needs,” GM President Dan Ammann said in a statement.