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We knew that this day was coming: Cruise He is dead – at least as a robot company. General engine Complete the acquisition of GM Cruise Holdings LLC. The cruise is now a subsidiary of GM.
The conclusion is a 50% reduction in staff – this is about 1,000 people. The next step is to incorporate other employees into the GM folds, where they will work to improve the advanced automotive driving system.
Among my many questions about this is whether GM will successfully retain the rest of the talent, most of whom have told me they are engineers. And this fresh talent will be translated into an improved advanced driver-health system, characterized as super cruise and ultimately personal autonomous vehicles?
I am not convinced that the acquisition of talent-inspired and loyal to Cruise Co-Founder and CEO Kyle Vogt-is a good fight. But hey, I have been wrong before.
Over the years, I have spoken to many cruise engineers and every time I walked away thinking, “Well, there is a true loyal.” I haven’t met every cruise employee, but those who have exuded a faith in the autonomous mission of vehicles and seemed excited to work for many hours to achieve it.
For every current and former cruise ships out there, get out. I would love to talk about the first days with you. Email me to kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com.
A little bird
Some more little birds came to us Cruise In the last few days. Much of the communication focused on the forthcoming redundancies, which I address above. But I thought this was an interesting nugget from sources that shared how they thought – at least for some time – the cruise could restart robots.
One indicator was this tidbit from sources that told us that the cruise was ready to apply a sub -sensor solution, which is internally referred to as a Rhino Project, which would have solved for the October 2nd incident, creating additional visibility and sensitization under the car. The “incident” refers to an event in 2023, when a pedestrian, who was initially hit by a human -driven car, had stuck down and then dragged from one of the company’s robes.
Do you have a tip for us? Email kirsten korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com, sean o’kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or rebecca bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or check these instructions to learn how to contact us through encrypted messaging applications or securedrop.
Offers!
Only a bunch of offers this week!
Applied intuition Acquired Episys Science Inc.A company that developed autonomy software for national security, including disconnected air systems, surface warfare, maritime monitoring and administration and battle management control. The terms were not disclosed. Applied intuition is perhaps best known as a stand -alone vehicle software company. Lately it has been pushing deeper into defense.
Genesisa boot that developed goods information software, set $ 14.6 million In a series of a series of funding led by Venrock and Hof Capital. Steel Atlas, Autotech Ventures, Venture 53, TitletTowntech, Plug and Play Ventures and Heartland Ventures also participated in the round.
QuicklyA start -up that manufactures the EV billing lane raised $ 15 million in a seed -led union Square Ventures, the company told TechCrunch exclusively. The round also included investments from related businesses, Jetstream and Powerhouse Ventures.
Notable reading and other tidbits
Adas
We covered Tesla Earnings last week’s version, but he wanted to point out this article by Sean O’Kane, which reminds us of all the promises that Elon Musk has made around full self-guidance software and his recent assumption that some of Its vehicles will actually need material upgrading.
Autonomous vehicles
THE Department of Motor Vehicles of California The released data showing a 50% reduction in autonomous vehicle test miles. Yes, the end of the cruise is partly responsible. But there are other players playing. Here’s what else is happening.
Tower He has worked with Volvo’s autonomous solutions for the development and development of autonomous trucks. Reminder: Volvo also has a deal with Aurora.
Diameter appears now in the Uber app on Austin. At the moment, this is not translated into a waymo that takes people up. But soon.
Electric vehicles, charging and batteries
THE Chicago Auto Show is in progress and while most – such as Subaru Forester Hybrid -It are mild hybrids or internal combustion vehicles, there were EVS. Saddle revealed the electric 2025 Jeep Wagoneer S Limited Trim This starts at $ 66,995 and has an estimated range of 294 miles.
Passage Profits were reported this week and, Welp, her business lost about $ 5 billion in 2024. But that wasn’t the only thing that fell into my eye. Instead, they were CEO Jim Farley’s comments on invoices.
Scout motorsThe Volkswagen Spinout, which plans to produce electric and aggressive electric trucks and SUVs, has been accused by a VW team and Audi representatives in Florida on its plan to sell directly to consumers.
Ride and concert economy
Bent He has worked with AI’s boot Human To build an AI assistant handling the initial hiring for customer service questions for both riders and drivers.
Space and future of flight
This is an interesting feature in a boot called Cyclical fuelwhich will make diamonds on its way to creating electronic tanks on jet planes.
Wheels of this week
This week, we will hear from TechCrunch journalist Rebecca Bellan and her time leading one 2024 Kia Niro. (Note that the photo above has a model 2025.)
I hire a 2024 Kia Niro during the weekend to drive a few hours north of New York.
It is a cute, zippy SUV, but I struggled in two areas required for a road journey: the battery life in winter and the location of the volume button.
It took only about an hour and a half driving, or about 70 miles, to get the battery from fully charged in half empty.
This kicked my anxiety in tools, as I was not sure that I would be able to find a charger on the Connecticut sticks. I found one, in the end, a unique EVGO charger in a gym parking lot. “Marsha” was advertised to charge at 50 kW, but ended up turning my battery at a shocking 17 kW rate. Let’s just say, I sat in this parking lot for a while.
The volume button or buttons were also obviously absent. This is my biggest pet peeve animals with vehicles specified by the software: touching on touch screens instead of tangible buttons you can handle while driving so you don’t have to get your eyes off the road. Neither me, nor any of my passengers, I was able to understand how to adjust the volume without using the button on the wheel.
Finally just googled “Kia niro volume” and pretty sure I found a Reddit post that I could write myself. Obviously, you need to press the “button” over the orange fan to change from the climate control function, and then you can use the left temperature button to change the volume. Incredible.
What is “this week’s wheels”? It is an opportunity to find out about the various transport products we try, whether it is an electric or a hybrid car, an electronic bike or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle.
