On October 2, a prototype of an automated Cruise taxi hit a woman in San Francisco after being hit by another vehicle, after which California authorities revoked the company's license to operate commercial transportation with such unmanned vehicles. This week, Cruise also phased out prototype rides that include a safety driver at the wheel.

As Reuters notes, citing an entry on Cruise's corporate blog, this decision led to the removal of another 70 prototypes from the line, which continued to operate in select US cities with drivers behind the wheel. Prior to this, the company suspended the operation of more than 600 unmanned taxis throughout the United States, not limited to the state of California, whose authorities put forward a corresponding requirement. In addition, Cruise decided to recall 950 unmanned taxis to update the control software, taking into account the negative experience of the incident on October 2. A software update was designed to eliminate the dangerous element of the algorithm.

Now 70 prototypes have also been removed from the line, which continued to carry passengers under the supervision of testers. In fact, as Cruise clarifies, now trips on such cars will be reduced to testing in a closed area, the company will also continue to improve the software through computer simulation.

Cruise also revealed something new about the progress of the investigation into the October 2 incident. Firstly, the Exponent company hired for technical expertise will conduct an audit not only within the framework of the investigation materials of a specific incident but will generally cover all systems used by Cruise that affect the safety of vehicles. Second, the company will hire an external consultant on security and corporate culture. In addition, the general counsel of GM's parent corporation, Craig Glidden, will assume leadership of several areas of Cruise's activities while retaining his previous post. In any case, he will control the public relations and financial activities of Cruise. The subsidiary contributed more than $700 million in losses to GM in the third quarter as it increased costs as it began operating self-driving taxis in a total of 15 U.S. cities. By 2030, Cruise's revenue should grow to $50 billion a year, as GM originally planned. Since early November, Cruise has also temporarily stopped production of automated Origin shuttles, which do not involve a driver in the cockpit at all. According to company representatives, if such prototypes need to be resumed, the existing stock will be enough to cover the need.