GM Revives Driverless Dreams: Ex-Tesla Autopilot Chief Hired to Overhaul Failed Strategy

General Motors isn’t letting a little thing like total failure stop its robotaxi ambitions. The automaker just poached Tesla’s former Autopilot boss to reboot its driverless division—because apparently burning $2 billion in 2024 wasn’t lesson enough.

From flop to full throttle

GM’s Cruise unit went from Silicon Valley darling to cautionary tale after pedestrian-dragging incidents and a revoked operating license. Now they’re betting big on hardware expertise to fix what software couldn’t. The new hire’s first task? Explaining to shareholders why this time will be different.

The Elon factor

Snagging Tesla’s ex-autonomy lead gives GM street cred—and maybe some trade secrets. Though if history’s any guide, the only thing being driven autonomously here is investor cash straight into a furnace.

One thing’s certain: Detroit’s doubling down while the rest of the industry pumps the brakes. Whether that’s visionary or delusional depends entirely on whose money they’re using.

GM moves on from fatal Cruise crash to a personal-use pivot

General Motors returns to the self-driving car sector after a bruising year for its autonomous vehicles (AV) unit, Cruise.

In 2023, a Cruise vehicle injured a pedestrian in San Francisco, and the leadership allegedly tried to cover up the incident in its report to regulators, triggering crackdowns. The incident also led to the firing of nine top executives and the resignation of then-chief executive Kyle Vogt.

GM halted Cruise operations nationwide, cut over a quarter of the unit’s workforce, and folded some engineering teams back into its Core operations. The company cited the high cost of developing the robotaxi platform and the slow pace of regulatory approvals as reasons for exiting the market.

Analysts say the decision to refocus on personally owned autonomous vehicles reflects a more capital-efficient approach.

Sterling Anderson’s return to center stage

Anderson’s appointment is seen as a statement of intent. He worked at Tesla, where he spearheaded the development of Autopilot before leaving in 2016 to co-found Aurora, a self-driving technology company that has focused on autonomous trucking.

His credentials go beyond corporate roles: at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Anderson’s doctoral work centered on semi-autonomous driving systems. At GM, his remit spans internal combustion, electric, driver-assist and autonomous products, a scope that gives him influence over how autonomy is integrated across the company’s line-up.

GM’s decision to tap into the alumni network of its discontinued Cruise unit suggests it values the technical expertise some of those professionals gained over years of robotaxi development, even if the commercial model failed.

Chief executive Mary Barra has actively spoken on GM’s commitment to autonomous technology, even as she cuts spending in other areas. On the company’s second-quarter earnings call in July, Barra listed autonomy, alongside domestic supply chain expansion and battery innovation, as one of GM’s “clear priorities” for long-term competitiveness.

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