Company
Cruise
Autonomous vehicle company founded 2013, acquired by General Motors in 2016; operated as a largely autonomous GM subsidiary building driverless robotaxis.
- Founded
- 2013
- HQ
- San Francisco, California, USA
- Status
- GM subsidiary (robotaxi ops wound down Dec 2024)
Models
2
Deployments
1
Overview
Autonomous vehicle company founded 2013, acquired by General Motors in 2016; operated as a largely autonomous GM subsidiary building driverless robotaxis. Launched driverless (no safety driver) taxi service in San Francisco (first driverless ride Nov 2021; open to public Feb 2022). Following the Oct 2, 2023 pedestrian-dragging incident and subsequent regulatory fallout, suspended all operations Oct 2023; CEO/co-founder Kyle Vogt resigned Nov 2023. Began returning vehicles to public roads (with human safety drivers) May 2024. In December 2024, GM stopped funding Cruise's robotaxi business, folding the autonomous-driving work into driver-assistance systems for personal GM vehicles. The driverless-robotaxi business is effectively ended.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 1 deployment on file
- Active incidents
- 12 incidents on file
DEPLOY Intelligence
Market intelligence for physical AI
Analyst-grade signals, competitive tracking, and investment context across the global physical AI landscape. Launching 2026.
Key facts
Status
Robotaxi service ENDED, GM defunded Dec 2024
Owner
General Motors (with prior Honda investment)
Investment history
Honda committed $2.75B; GM invested billions before defunding
Defining event
SF pedestrian-dragging, Oct 2, 2023
Regulatory outcome
CA DMV/CPUC permit suspension; nationwide driverless halt
Vehicle
Cruise AV (Chevy Bolt), reached commercial maturity
GM defunding (Dec 2024)
On Dec 10, 2024 GM announced it will no longer fund Cruise's robotaxi development, combining Cruise LLC and GM technical teams into a single autonomous/assisted-driving effort (Super Cruise)
GM restructuring savings
GM expects to lower spending by more than US$1B annually after the Cruise restructuring (per Dec 10, 2024 release)
Data & sources
Company filings
1
Press releases
1
News coverage
2
Web sources
6
10 sources backing this record.View all →
Models (2)
View all models →Retired
Cruise Origin
Cruise Origin was GM Cruise's purpose-built autonomous shuttle: no steering wheel or pedals, with campfire-style bench seating for up to six passengers, designed exclusively for driverless commercial robotaxi service. Production was paused in November 2023 after Cruise's San Francisco operational suspension following a pedestrian injury incident. GM officially cancelled the Origin program in July 2024, recording a $583M non-cash write-off, and redirected Cruise toward an autonomous variant of the Chevrolet Bolt personal vehicle.
Retired
Cruise AV (Chevrolet Bolt)
Cruise's driverless robotaxi, based on the Chevrolet Bolt EV, which operated without a human safety driver in San Francisco commercial service from 2023 until driverless operations ended after the October 2, 2023 pedestrian-dragging incident. (Cruise also developed the purpose-built, steering-wheel-free Origin, which was shelved.) In December 2024 GM defunded the Cruise robotaxi business, consolidated the unit in-house, and redirected the autonomous technology toward personal-vehicle advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) rather than robotaxis (GM SEC 8-K, December 2024). Classified research to reflect that current direction; the commercial-era San Francisco deployment records preserve the historical service state.
Compare & explore
Deep analysis from DEPLOY
Relationships
Claims ledger
Public, dated claims by Cruise, each tracked against the evidence. Status is a DEPLOY assessment from primary sources: verified means an independent source confirms it; contradicted means one refutes it; open means the outcome is not yet determinable. Every entry keeps its verbatim quote and source so you can check the call yourself.
- ContradictedTimeline · claimed 2024-01-01 · deadline 2026-12-31
“There should be major coverage in the US by end of 2026”
Cruise was effectively dissolved by GM in late 2024. Kyle Vogt is no longer CEO. There will be no "major coverage" from Cruise in 2026. The company as an independent entity no longer exists in its original form.
- ContradictedTimeline · claimed 2023-10-01 · deadline 2024-12-31
“Cruise is on track for — if not ahead of — commercial deployment”
Cruise was not commercially deployed by end of 2024. Operations suspended Oct 2023 after pedestrian-dragging incident. GM restructured Cruise, laid off staff.
- ContradictedCapacity · claimed 2019-11-07 · deadline 2020-12-31
“By end of 2020 we want to have 1M cars on the road with HW3 ready for RoboTaxi”
Cruise never reached 1M robotaxis. Commercial robotaxi service was limited to SF; GM recalled all Cruise AVs in Nov 2023 after safety incidents.
Disagree with a status? Cruise can submit a correction with evidence and we log the response on the record. Methodology and the full industry ledger live at /stats/claim-integrity.
Explainers
Plain-language answers to the questions people ask about Cruise, from DEPLOY’s explainer library. Each is written in the language of the question and cross-checked against this registry.
- What happened to Cruise (GM's robotaxi service)?
Cruise wound down its consumer robotaxi operations following an October 2023 pedestrian-dragging incident in San Francisco that produced a CPUC permit suspension and a NHTSA defect investigation. GM announced in December 2024 that it would restructure Cruise away from operating a robotaxi service and refocus the technology on driver-assistance for GM vehicles. As of mid-2026, Cruise no longer offers consumer robotaxi service in any market. Waymo is the verified-available robotaxi alternative.
- What is Zoox and how does it compare to other robotaxi operators?
Zoox is an Amazon-owned autonomous-vehicle company headquartered in Foster City, California. Unlike Waymo (retrofit Jaguar I-PACE) or Tesla Robotaxi (retrofit Model Y), Zoox is the only major US robotaxi operator deploying a purpose-built bidirectional vehicle with no steering wheel or driver position. Zoox launched a free public demo robotaxi service on the Las Vegas Strip and in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood in 2025 and operates an employee shuttle program at its Foster City headquarters. Paid commercial service was planned for 2026 pending federal approval; current public rides remain free as of mid-2026.
- What is Aurora and how does its autonomous trucking work?
Aurora Innovation is a US autonomous-vehicle company exclusively focused on commercial Class 8 trucking. Aurora launched commercial driverless trucking service between Dallas and Houston in April 2024 with freight customers including Werner Enterprises, Hirschbach Motor Lines, and Schneider. The company was founded by Chris Urmson (Google self-driving alumni) with Sterling Anderson and Drew Bagnell; it is a publicly-traded NASDAQ company following a 2021 SPAC merger.
- What are the main Chinese robotaxi companies (Baidu Apollo Go, Pony AI, WeRide) and how do they compare to US operators?
Three Chinese autonomous-vehicle operators run commercial robotaxi services at substantially larger scale than US peers: Baidu Apollo Go (commercial robotaxi in Beijing, Wuhan, Chongqing, Shenzhen, and additional cities); Pony AI (commercial services in Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shenzhen; NYSE-listed November 2024); and WeRide (commercial fleet in China plus international deployments in Abu Dhabi and Singapore). The Chinese commercial AV cluster operates at higher trip volumes, lower per-ride pricing, and broader city coverage than US peers including Waymo.
- Which is safer, Waymo or Tesla Robotaxi?
Waymo has the substantively stronger verified safety record in 2026: multi-year operational data across roughly 11 US metropolitan markets, published annual safety reports with per-million-miles accident-rate metrics, third-party actuarial validation (Swiss Re), and accident rates substantively below human-driver baselines for comparable urban environments. Tesla Robotaxi has a much shorter operational history (pilot launched June 2025 across 4 markets: Austin lead, Dallas, Houston, SF Bay Area), thinner published safety analysis, and operates an unrelated safety-data context from Tesla Autopilot. The comparison is asymmetric because the operational scales are asymmetric, not because Tesla Robotaxi has demonstrated safety problems at pilot scale.
- How safe is Tesla Robotaxi?
Tesla Robotaxi's Austin pilot launched in June 2025 and has accumulated roughly 12 months of operational history as of mid-2026, with subsequent expansion to Dallas, Houston, and SF Bay Area for a 4-market pilot footprint. The published per-mile safety statistics are thinner than Waymo's multi-year operational baseline; no fatal Tesla Robotaxi crashes have been verified at the pilot scope. The honest framing is asymmetric data: Tesla Robotaxi's safety record is verifiable at the pilot scale that exists, but the depth is not yet at the level of Waymo's published annual safety reports with third-party actuarial validation. Pilot-stage data is not the same as commercial-scale data.
Founders (2)
- Kyle Vogtcofounderfounded 2013-01-01no longer at company
- Daniel Kancofounderfounded 2013-01-01no longer at company
Former / Previously (10)
- Mohi Khansari Technical Lead (motion planning / robot learning)secondary-verified
- Rob Flenniken AV fleet softwaresecondary-verified
- Dennis Jackson Embedded AV software leadsecondary-verified
- Kyle Vogt Founder & former CEOsecondary-verified
- Daniel Kan Co-founder & former CPOsecondary-verified
- Marc Whitten CEO (2024-2025)secondary-verified
- Mo Elshenawy President & CTO (former)secondary-verified
- Liu Xianming Researcher (former)reported, not verified
- Kyle Vogt Co-Founder, CEO2013 to 2023secondary-verified
- Daniel Kan Co-Founder, CPO2013 to 2023secondary-verified
Safety record
7 recalls and 5 incidents on record (2 critical, 3 serious, 4 moderate). Most recent: Nov 2024.
Most recent: Nov 2024
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Incidents affecting Cruise (12)
- Cruise admits a false report to a federal investigation; $500K DOJ deferred-prosecution agreement2024-11-14 · Regulatory action
- NHTSA fines Cruise $1.5M for failing to fully report the Oct 2023 pedestrian-dragging crash2024-09-30 · Regulatory action
- Cruise recalls its entire 1,194-vehicle fleet over unexpected hard braking2024-08-22 · Recall
- Software May Cause Unexpected Braking2024-08-09 · Recall
- ADS Software May Improperly Respond After a Crash2023-11-07 · Recall
- California DMV suspends Cruise's driverless deployment and testing permits as not safe for public operation2023-10-24 · Regulatory action
- Cruise driverless robotaxi dragged a pedestrian ~20 feet in San Francisco2023-10-02 · Injury
- ADS Software Error May Cause Crash2023-04-03 · Recall
Includes incidents linked directly to this company, to its models, or to deployments of its models or under its operation. Retracted incidents are excluded from this view but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Operated deployments (1)
- Cruise AV (Chevrolet Bolt)San Francisco
Operator customers (1)
- Cruise1 deployment
Recent coverage
Cruise in third-party press
Peer companies
Financial state
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- wound_down
- Counterparty risk class
- high
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Funding rounds (4)
- Microsoft Strategic Investment2021-01-19
$2.0B(reported)
Investors: Microsoft (strategic) (lead)
- Series D2019-01-31
$1.1B(reported)
Investors: T. Rowe Price (lead), SoftBank Vision Fund, Honda Motor Co. (strategic), Baillie Gifford, D1 Capital Partners
- Honda Strategic Investment2018-10-03
$750M(reported)
Investors: Honda Motor Co. (strategic) (lead)
- SoftBank Strategic Investment2018-05-31
$2.3B(reported)
Investors: SoftBank Vision Fund (lead)
Regulatory filings (4)
- CPUC Phase I Driverless Deployment AL No.1other · otherclosed
- nhtsa_investigationnhtsa investigation · us_nhtsaclosed2024-09-30
Linked models: Cruise AV (Chevrolet Bolt)
- 24E-067nhtsa recall · us_nhtsarecalled2024-08-09
Linked models: Cruise AV (Chevrolet Bolt)
- FMVSS exemption petition (Origin)other · us_nhtsapending2022-02-17
Acquisitions (1)
- acquired by General Motorsfull acquisition
Sources (10)
- Cruise: history, GM acquisition, Oct 2023 suspension, Dec 2024 GM defunding · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruise_(autonomous_vehicle) · 2026-01-01
- CBS: Cruise suspended operations after Oct 2 2023 pedestrian accident · https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/nhtsa-robotaxi-cruise-pay-penalty-failing-report-san-francisco-crash-involving-pedestrian/ · 2024-11-12
- GM axed Cruise funding Dec 2024 after major accident · https://www.chinatalk.media/p/ponyais-robotaxis-and-the-long-road · 2025-01-03
- GM press release (8-K Exhibit 99.1, Dec 10 2024): GM will no longer fund Cruise robotaxi development; combine Cruise + GM technical teams; >US$1B annual spending reduction · https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1467858/000119312524274336/d917047dex991.htm · 2024-12-10
- Honda joins Cruise and GM: US$2.75B total commitment (US$750M equity investment + ~US$2B over 12 years) · https://global.honda/en/newsroom/news/2018/c181003eng.html · 2018-10-03
- https://techcrunch.com/2023/10/24/cpuc-pulls-cruise-robotaxi-permit-after-dmv-suspension/
- https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/news-and-media/dmv-statement-on-cruise-llc-suspension/
- https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/10/gm-halts-funding-of-robotaxi-development-by-cruise.html
- https://calmatters.org/economy/2023/10/driverless-cars-cruise-dmv/
- https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/general-motors-shuts-cruise-robotaxi-unit-mary-barra/735205/
Common questions
- What is Cruise?
- Autonomous vehicle company founded 2013, acquired by General Motors in 2016; operated as a largely autonomous GM subsidiary building driverless robotaxis. Launched driverless (no safety driver) taxi service in San Francisco (first driverless ride Nov 2021; open to public Feb 2022). Following the Oct 2, 2023 pedestrian-dragging incident and subsequent regulatory fallout, suspended all operations Oct 2023; CEO/co-founder Kyle Vogt resigned Nov 2023. Began returning vehicles to public roads (with human safety drivers) May 2024. In December 2024, GM stopped funding Cruise's robotaxi business, folding the autonomous-driving work into driver-assistance systems for personal GM vehicles. The driverless-robotaxi business is effectively ended.
- What does Cruise make?
- Cruise has 2 robot models on the DEPLOY registry: Cruise Origin, Cruise AV (Chevrolet Bolt) (Cruise builds both physical robots and the AI that runs them).
- Is Cruise publicly traded?
- Cruise is not independently listed on public markets; it is part of GM on the DEPLOY registry.
- Who competes with Cruise?
- On the DEPLOY registry, peer companies to Cruise building in the same form factors include Tesla, Aurora Innovation, Nuro, Waymo.
- Where is Cruise headquartered?
- Cruise is headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA.
- Where does Cruise operate robots?
- Cruise operates 1 verified deployment, including at San Francisco.
- Is Cruise a top robotics company?
- On DEPLOY's intelligence score, which blends verified deployments, funding, hiring, media, safety, and IP signals, Cruise ranks in roughly the top 82% of companies tracked by the registry.
- When was Cruise founded?
- Cruise was founded in 2013.
- Are there any incidents involving Cruise?
- 12 active incidents involving Cruise are on the DEPLOY registry. Each is a sourced, append-only record; retracted incidents are suppressed from this view.
- Is Cruise safe?
- Cruise has 12 active incidents on record in the DEPLOY registry. 7 recalls and 5 incidents on record (2 critical, 3 serious, 4 moderate). Most recent: Nov 2024. Retracted incidents are excluded from this count.
Methodology: Verified · 10 sources (2 primary) · last reviewed 2026-06-25
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-06-25
Sources by quality tier
- 5
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
- 1
- knowledge-base
- Knowledge base
- 1
- primary-sec-filing
- SEC filing
- 1
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
- 1
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
- 1
- secondary-established-publication
- Established publication
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for Cruise.In the press
Recent coverage mentioning Cruise from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
High-energy lasers: Pentagon pushes 500-kW systems for cruise missile defense
The U.S. Department of Defense has selected laser technology company nLIGHT to help develop a...
Germany to buy US Tomahawks in shift toward own long-range capability
Germany will purchase Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States and station them on German soil.
Poor B-52 Readiness Creating Testing Challenges For New AGM-181A Nuclear Cruise Missile
The B-52 fleet is in need of an upcoming upgrade and has been in high demand, as well as suffering a tragic loss. The post Poor B-52 Readiness Creating Testing Challenges For New…
Polish defense giant PGZ to produce Anduril’s Barracuda cruise missile
Local production could make the weapon eligible for purchases by other European nations through a European Union lending scheme, according to PGZ.
Toyota’s electric SUV clears 17,500 sales, outpacing the Land Cruiser and key EV rivals
The new 2026 bZ has emerged as one of America’s best-selling EVs, outselling several of Toyota’s popular SUVs.
New Su-57 Weapons Configuration Points To Drone And Cruise Missile Defense Mission
Russia's top fighter may have been drafted into trying to help defend against Ukraine's growing long-range strike capabilities. The post New Su-57 Weapons Configuration Points To…
Ticonderoga Class Cruiser Set To Be Sunk During RIMPAC Wargames
The ex-USS Mobile Bay is scheduled to be sent to the bottom of the sea by friendly forces in the next few weeks. The post Ticonderoga Class Cruiser Set To Be Sunk During RIMPAC…
Tenways Wayfarer cruiser e-bike bundle at new $1,649 low ($827 off), Jackery July 4th power station sale, Aiper, Greenworks, more
Leading our Tuesday Green Deals is the special 4th of July flash sale on Tenways’ Wayfarer Premium Cruiser e-bike with a $277 FREE bundle of gear at a new $1,649 low . We also…
Here Is How Russia’s Skyfall Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile Actually Works
Researchers conclude the nuclear-powered cruise missile almost certainly uses a direct-cycle engine that spews radioactive material throughout its flight. The post Here Is How…
GM restarts driverless car program more than a year after Cruise robotaxi incident
GM rebooting Cruise robotaxi business a year after folding it. Rebranding and relaunching with new safety protocols.
GM Shuts Down Cruise Division
GM abruptly shut down Cruise autonomous car division. Days before planned driver-out launch in Houston. Refocusing on Super Cruise.
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/cruise.md
- RSS feed: /companies/cruise/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/ce8ff680-3fe7-4398-b31b-f85dc3073f3a
- Revision history: /companies/cruise/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Video
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Leftist activists silent as Turkey blocks American LGBT+ cruise from docking citing ‘moral standards’
At Eurosatory 2026, MBDA unveiled its new generation "Land Cruise Missile - Naval Cruise Missile (LCM - NCM) MK2", the European very long-range and high-perform
The 2026 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Performance Hybrid has arrived, and it is officially the most powerful production LandCruiser ever built. With 341 kilowatts (45
The 2026 Toyota LandCruiser 300 Performance Hybrid is officially the most powerful LandCruiser ever built! With 341 kilowatts (457 horsepower) and 790 Newton me
#car #electriccar #usa Today we're diving deep into one of the most exciting and ambitious off-roaders to come out of China recently—the Geely Galaxy Cruiser 7
The Cruise behaves correctly. According to California Vehicle Code 21708, "No person shall drive or propel any vehicle or conveyance upon, over, or across, or
Anti-submarine warfare capabilities are particularly critical for the Admiral Nakhimov due to the expectation that the the Arctic, the North Atlantic and the No
The moment a Kh-101 cruise missile was hit by programmable AHEAD ammunition from a Skynex anti-aircraft artillery system belonging to the Ukrainian Armed Forces
The classic American cruiser segment is facing an unexpected technological invasion. Today on Vision Effect TV, we are staging an intense, technical breakdown o
South Korea's Cheonryong long-range air-to-ground cruise missile successfully completed its first technical flight test on June 25, 2026, after two failures in
Carnival Corp is demonstrating a powerful operational recovery, but its balance sheet remains burdened by $25.57B in debt. In this video, we analyze the tension
WHO says cruise ship-linked hantavirus outbreak over The World Health Organization (WHO) declares an end to the deadly hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship whi
Ukraine's FP-5 Flamingo cruise missile hits Titan-Barrikady plant in Volgograd, Russia — twice, in the same strike. Russian air defense fails to intercept the l
Germany's Skynex air defense system destroys a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile mid-air using 35mm AHEAD ammo that shreds its guidance electronics. Watch how Ukrai
South Korea just tested its new Heavenly Dragon air-launched cruise missile for the KF-21 Boramae fighter jet — and it worked. After two failed launches in Janu
#enews #redcarpet #popculture About: The E! News team brings you the latest breaking entertainment, fashion and Pop Culture news. Featuring exclusive segments,
Russia's Defence Ministry on July 5 showed Russian cruiser 'Varyag' arriving and docking in Chinise port city Qingdao ahead of the 'Joint Sea-2026' military exe
The WHO said the MV Hondius-linked hantavirus outbreak resulted in 13 cases and three deaths.
DEPLOY Intelligence Score
27.9/ 100
6-month trend
Analysis
Meaningful press and media coverage across the period. 12 incidents on record.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Jul 10, 2026
Intelligence layerCruise on the deployment map
Where Cruise's robots are verified operating. Explore the deployment map by place and type.