In a sudden and unexpected move, General Motors (GM) has pulled the plug on Cruise's autonomous vehicle ambitions, announcing that it will no longer fund the self-driving car startup's robotaxi project. The news was delivered to Cruise employees via a Slack message from CEO Marc Whitten, followed by an all-hands meeting that left many questions unanswered.

The decision marks a significant shift in GM's autonomous vehicle strategy, as the automaker will now focus on developing personal autonomous vehicles. Cruise, which was acquired by GM in 2016, will be absorbed into the parent company and combined with GM's own efforts to develop driver assistance features. The move raises concerns about job security for Cruise employees, who were given few details about potential layoffs during the meeting.

According to sources, the senior leadership team at Cruise was also caught off guard by the decision, which was announced without warning to employees. The all-hands meeting was described as "short and unsatisfactory," with executives providing little information about the future of the company or its employees. Staff were told to "be proud" of themselves and that "the technology will live on," but details about the restructuring process and potential job cuts were scarce.

The news comes as a surprise, given that Cruise had been working towards launching a driverless service in Houston in 2025. The company had received the final permit required by California regulators to operate commercially in San Francisco just last August. However, an incident in October that left a pedestrian stuck under and dragged by one of its robotaxis led to intense scrutiny, the loss of permits, and ultimately, the departure of co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt.

Despite GM's efforts to reign in costs and provide a $850 million lifeline to Cruise in June, the company's autonomous vehicle ambitions appear to have been scaled back significantly. The partnership deal with Uber to launch robotaxis on the Uber platform in 2025 is also now in question. The move raises questions about the future of autonomous vehicle development and the role that Cruise will play in it.

For GM, the decision to refocus on personal autonomous vehicles may be a strategic one, given the growing competition in the autonomous vehicle market. However, the impact on Cruise employees and the broader autonomous vehicle industry remains to be seen. As the dust settles, one thing is clear: the road to autonomous vehicle adoption just got a lot more uncertain.