Cruise resumes autonomous taxi operations

But they do it in Phoenix and not in California, and they do it with a driver behind the wheel as an additional safety measure. But it must be recognized that it is a step to return to the taxi business that they had to abandon a few months ago.

In October 2023, California withdrew the company’s permission to operate autonomous taxis in that state, after a serious accident occurred, and they have been inactive since then.

Cruise has announced that it is returning to activity (even if it is with drivers) to continue obtaining map information and to improve its autonomous driving system.

After the accident, the CEO left the company, part of the staff was fired, and since then part of the company’s senior management has been renewed.

With the new staff they say they have improved the security of their internal processes, and they want to return to their activity as soon as possible. This explains the step they have taken returning to commercial activity.

The possible market for autonomous taxis could be very large in the future, although that remains to be seen, and today the companies that operate in that market lose money in the hope of earning it one day.

It is more than possible that they are right, but always in limited environments of large cities with very good information about the streets and what happens in them.

Cruise’s resumption of operations has been met with caution by some experts, who warn that self-driving technology is not yet ready for widespread commercial use. However, other experts believe that this is a necessary step to advance the development of this technology and that the potential long-term benefits outweigh the risks.

Only time will tell if autonomous driving technology will be able to offer safe and reliable transportation. However, Cruise’s resumption of operations is an important milestone that brings us one step closer to a future where driverless taxis could become an everyday reality.

I like to closely follow what happens with this technology, since it can be very important in the future, although today that future seems to be still quite far away.

As always, time will tell.