General Motors’ robotaxi startup Cruise fired nine executives amid the safety investigation on Wednesday, according to a Reuters report. Including COO Gil West.
The official investigation relates to an incident on October 2nd in which a woman was attacked by a… Cruise vehicle in San Francisco was hit and dragged along. The company also omitted some facts. The authorities then… License withdrawn for robot taxis.
The restructuring follows weeks of turmoil at the Robotaxi unit, which had to pull all vehicles in the U.S. from testing to conduct a post-crash safety review. CEO Kyle Vogt and co-founder Dan Kan resigned in recent weeks, and Cruise is preparing for layoffs this month. Now another nine management employees followed.
The Cruise spokeswoman confirmed that those fired included Chief Legal and Policy Officer Jeff Bleich and Senior Vice President of Government Affairs David Estrada.
Cruise’s problems are also a setback for an industry that relies on public trust and cooperation with regulators. The unit had in recent months announced ambitious plans to expand into more cities with fully autonomous taxi services.
The investigation is expected to last until January GM. The layoffs are intended to restore trust.
After the accident, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation into pedestrian risks at Cruise. This process is still ongoing.
Cruise could face charges for failing to disclose details about the accident Fines of $1.5 million and face additional sanctions, authorities in California said.
Mo Elshenawy took over as Cruise’s president last month and told a meeting in December that the autonomous vehicle division had reached a low point.