The Chief Executive and co-founder of General Motors driverless vehicle division Cruise has resigned after the company provision of all rides following a collision with a pedestrian in the city last month.
The person had been hit by a human-driven vehicle who then drove away before the collision with the driverless vehicle.
In a series of messages on X, formerly Twitter, Kyle Vogt wrote how “the last 10 years have been amazing, and I’m grateful to everyone who helped Cruise along the way.
“The startup I launched in my garage has given over 250,000 driverless rides across several cities, with each ride inspiring people with a small taste of the future.”
In the tweets, Mr Vogt did not directly mention the crash and subsequent licence issues with the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
He did, though, write: “Cruise is still just getting started, and I believe it has a great future ahead. The folks at Cruise are brilliant, driven, and resilient. They’re executing on a solid, multi-year roadmap and an exciting product vision. I’m thrilled to see what Cruise has in store next!
“To my former colleagues at Cruise and GM – you’ve got this! Regardless of what originally brought you to work on AVs, remember why this work matters. The status quo on our roads sucks, but together we’ve proven there is something far better around the corner.”
He says he will now spend time with his family while he explores his next career move.
Since the crash, the company has hired the independent, third-party engineering consulting firm, Exponent, to conduct a technical root cause analysis of the collision. It says that work is ongoing, and the Board plans to expand Exponent’s remit to include a comprehensive review of safety systems and technology.
It has also announced it will hire a permanent Chief Safety Officer and that the Cruise Board will retain a third-party safety expert in the coming weeks to perform a full assessment of Cruise’s safety operations and culture. It says these independent findings “will help further guide and inform the work we have initiated”.
(Picture – X)
