When the Upgrade (2017) movie came out, no one thought autonomous driving systems would be a reality. But in 2025, autonomous driving systems will be a thing. On Thursday, the General Motors Cruise unit recalled about 1,200 Cruise robotaxis over hard braking issues—this was according to NHTSA after a probe into the automaker’s division’s autonomous driving systems.
After the move to recall the robot axis, the U.S. auto safety regulator agreed to close the investigations into the autonomous driving systems formally opened in December 2022 after reports of crashes leading to two injuries became public.
The NHTSA’s halt in investigations comes as a relief for Crusie, as it now takes major steps to work towards building reassurance to state and federal officials over the safety of its autonomous vehicles. In return, it will return to business as usual with its robotaxi operations (without backup safety drivers) while also taking on paying clients.
According to Reuters, the GM arm did not agree with the U.S. auto safety regulator’s conclusion that a recall was required but issued one to halt the investigation process.
Cruise spokesman said that the GM arm is commited to building trust and improving transparency concerning autonomous driving technology.
According to Cruise, its fleet had already received software updates that would significantly reduce the risk of unexpected braking. It further stated that it had shared data with NHTSA revealing that the rate of unexpected braking events on Crusie autonomous vehicles is minimal—lower than that of a human driver.
However, this isn’t the only investigation the U.S. auto safety regulator had on Cruise AVs. It also checked whether the GM arm was taking sufficient precautions with its robot axis to safeguard pedestrians—an investigation that remains open.
It doesn’t end there. Cruise is also under investigation by the Justice Department and the Securities Exchange Commission over an accident in October 2023 in which one of its fleet struck a pedestrian after another vehicle hit them.
In July, GM revealed that it would indefinitely suspend plans to use its self-driving Origin vehicle without a steering wheel.
After the 2023 October incident and investigations, Cruise’s CEO resigned, and General Motors announced plans to scale back spending on the autonomous driving unit.
