Abandon ship, Cruise is going down!
The captain and the top crew members have already departed. 24% of the crew has walked the plank The ship is listing and taking on serious water. This is not going to end well.
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or now in the past?
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or now in the past?
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Robotaxis are not just limited by weak technology. They unfortunately also don’t make any business sense…
Read MoreAbandon ship, Cruise is going down!
NPR – Driverless car startup Cruise’s no good, terrible year
Article from NPR.org by Dara Kerr on what a horrible, and self inflicted year, 2023 was for Cruise. Also covers how the problems of Cruise might also effect Waymo.
TechCrunch – Facing roadblocks, China’s robotaxi darlings apply the brakes
Article from TechCrunch by Rita Liao. Losses push China's self-driving upstarts to seek new revenue streams.
SF Standard – Cruise Imploded in 2023. Can the Robotaxi Industry Recover in the New Year?
Article from the SF Standard by Joshua Bote. Reviews the high and low points of what happened to Cruise in 2023, and speculates on what might happen to them in the future.
GM $120M Lawsuit against San Francisco
In a clear sign that GM and Cruise have given up on trying to succeed in San Francisco, they have filed a lawsuit to attempt to law back taxes paid to the city back to 2016.
Forbes – Robocar 2023 In Review: The Fall Of Cruise
Article from Forbes by Brad Templeton. A very in depth review of what happened in 2023 with respect to robotaxis, with a concentration on the problems of Cruise. Includes ideas on what might happen in the future.
SF Examiner – Why 2023 was a such bumpy ride for self-driving cars in The City
Article from SF Examiner by Greg Wong on what a crazy and busy year it was for Cruise and Waymo. A very useful and complete timeline of what happened during 2023, and when.
Barrons – The EV Stock Bubble Has Popped. This One [robotaxis] Is Over, Too.
Article from Barrons on how the self-driving car market was an overhyped bubble. That bubble has now popped, as seen by combined market cap of five self-driving vehicle start-ups dropping by a whopping 95%.
Forbes – An Injury Lawyer Says What GM’s Cruise Robotaxi Might Face After Dragging Woman
Article from Forbes by Brad Templeton. A discussion with a personal injury lawyer on legal issues associated with the incident where a pedestrian was dragged and injured by a Cruise vehicle.
48 Hills – The environmental case against robotaxis
See original article by Sue Vaughan on 48 Hills. They will further damage public transit—and they’re no help to people with disabilities. On August 7 and August 10, the five members of the California Public Utilities Commission will take up the proposal to permit an unlimited number of autonomous Cruise…
Ruthless Endangerment
Post by E.W. Niedermeyer, the author of Ludicrous. Makes the key statement: "Like Large Language Models, driving automation is a technology that draws us into a fantasy, thinking a vehicle “can drive itself” after a few minutes of plausible performance. "
TechCrunch – Waymo retires its self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivan
Useful history on Waymo vehicles
TechCrunch – Ford takes $2.7B hit on Argo shutdown, shifts its bet to driver assist tech
Ford shut down Argo, their autonomous vehicle division. They took a $2.7B impairment on their Argo stake, resulting in a quarterly loss.
