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GM Announces $1 Billion Acquisition of Cruise Automation

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GM President Dan Ammann (right) with Cruise Automation founders Kyle Vogt (center) and Daniel Kan (left)

GM President Dan Ammann (right) with Cruise Automation founders Kyle Vogt (center) and Daniel Kan (left)

General Motors has announced its acquisition of Cruise Automation, a San Francisco-based tech startup that has been developing autonomous vehicle technology. According to reports, GM spent over $1 billion to add Cruise’s software talent and development capability to its own efforts to create self-driving cars.

“Fully autonomous vehicles can bring our customers enormous benefits in terms of greater convenience, lower cost and improved safety for their daily mobility needs,” GM President Dan Ammann said.

Cruise Automation will stay in San Francisco and act as an independent unit operating within GM’s Autonomous Vehicle Development Team led by GM vice president of autonomous technology and vehicle execution Doug Parks.

“GM’s commitment to autonomous vehicles is inspiring, deliberate, and completely in line with our vision to make transportation safer and more accessible,” said Cruise founder Kyle Vogt. “We are excited to be partnering with GM and believe this is a ground-breaking and necessary step toward rapidly commercializing autonomous vehicle technology.”

According to GM executive Mark Reuss, “Cruise provides our company with a unique technology advantage that is unmatched in our industry. We intend to invest significantly to further grow the talent base and capabilities already established by the Cruise team.”

GM says that its acquisition of Cruise is the automaker’s latest step toward a goal of “redefining the future of personal mobility.” Already this year, GM has announced a $500 million partnership with the ride-sharing company Lyft, launched its own personal car-sharing brand in the form of Maven, and established the aforementioned unit for autonomous vehicle development.