GM's Cruise Launches Fully Driverless Taxi Tests in San Francisco
GM's Cruise division begins testing fully driverless robotaxi rides in San Francisco with employees, marking a major step toward commercial deployment.
GM's Cruise division officially launches fully driverless taxi rides in San Francisco, with co-founder and President Kyle Vogt taking the first trip in a vehicle called "Sourdough." The company deploys its Cruise Bolt EVs to roam the city and wait for ride requests through the Cruise app, marking a significant milestone for the autonomous vehicle industry. Vogt describes the experience as smooth and shares video footage of the vehicle operating in "ghost mode" without anyone inside.
The driverless service remains strictly in the testing phase and is currently available only to GM employees who are helping refine the customer experience. Although Cruise holds a California DMV permit that allows it to offer free rides to the public, the company confirms it is not extending the service to regular citizens just yet. The current testing operates under strict limitations, running only between the hours of 10PM and 6AM at a maximum speed of 30 MPH in mild weather conditions.
Before Cruise can charge passengers for ride-hailing services, it must secure a final permit from the California Public Utilities Commission. This testing milestone arrives as GM simultaneously rolls out its "Ultra Cruise" system for personal passenger vehicles, a hands-free driving technology backed by 10 million miles of testing that aims to handle 95 percent of all driving scenarios. The progress highlights GM's aggressive push to lead the autonomous and advanced driver-assistance markets over competitors like Tesla.