In an internal incident report, Cruise made it clear that the Department of Justice is investigating the firm.
Following a noteworthy incident on October 2, federal prosecutors and securities authorities are presently investigating Cruise, General Motors’ (GM) driverless car business. In this incident, a human-driven car struck a pedestrian in San Francisco before a Cruise robotaxi pulled it along.
Multiple federal agencies, including the DMV of California, the CPU of California, and the NHTSA, have already begun investigating, and now the DOJ and the SEC have joined the fray. As a result of the events on October 2, GM has taken control of the struggling business and instituted cost-cutting measures, casting doubt on Cruise’s future. In addition to having its commercial operating licenses revoked in California, the firm has had its fleet grounded in other states.
Kyle Vogt, co-founder and CEO, resigned, and about 24% of the staff was laid off, highlighting how serious the situation is. Just as Cruise was about to get the last necessary permission for commercial robotaxi service in San Francisco, problems began to arise.
However, the events and actions that followed on October 2 made the preexisting issues worse. After being struck by a human-driven automobile, the pedestrian fell into the path of a Cruise robotaxi, which proceeded to pull him twenty feet. Because of the botaxi’s dangerous move and the delayed disclosure, Cruise’s relationship with regulators was strained.
The California DMV suspended Cruise’s licenses after accusing him of concealing important video material from their investigation. General Motors commissioned an internal investigation into the matter from the legal firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
Although Cruise did not set out to deceive authorities, the investigation did point to leadership blunders, impaired judgment, strained relationships with regulators, and an obsession with rewriting a false media story. As a result of what the study called a “proverbial self-inflicted wound” brought about by top leadership, Cruise was unable to adequately inform regulators of crucial facts.
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