General Motors discontinues investment in Cruise robotaxi

General Motors said on Tuesday it will end robotaxi development at its majority-owned, money-losing Cruise business, a blow to the ambitions of the largest U.S. automaker which had made the advanced technology unit a top priority.

The Detroit-based car company said it would no longer fund work on self-driving robotaxis “given the considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business, along with an increasingly competitive robotaxi market,” Reuters quoted.

The automaker has invested more than $10 billion in Cruise since 2016. Cruise will be folded into its group working on driver assistance technology.

The move comes on the heels of GM scaling back plans for electric vehicles, selling its stake in one of its joint venture battery plants and restructuring its China business, leaving the company more focused on its profitable business of making gasoline-powered pickup trucks and other large vehicles.