General Motors’ robot taxi service Cruise has signed a multiyear deal with Uber that will allow Uber customers to hail Cruise’s self-driving taxis from their smartphones starting next year. This marks the first time Cruise’s self-driving taxis will be back on the roads since they struck a pedestrian in San Francisco in October 2023.
Neither GM nor Uber have disclosed specific dates or cities for when Uber might deploy Cruise’s robot taxis. A spokesperson told the website that the new partnership between Cruise and Uber would happen after Cruise relaunches its own driverless taxi service in 2025.
Cruise is currently testing cars on the road with human drivers. Uber has also partnered with a fleet of self-driving cars, which currently operate in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Cruise also An investigation was launched into three rear-end collisions involving the company’s self-driving cars in December 2022. The company was under separate investigation after one of its vehicles struck a pedestrian in San Francisco in October. The pedestrian was thrown into the path of a human-driven vehicle, causing further injury.
Cruise’s executives knew about the incident but failed to disclose it in meetings with city officials or federal agencies, according to a third-party report released by the company. After an investigation late last year, the company also agreed to pay fines to city officials. Cruise lines have been allowed to resume operations within the state.
