GM's Marc Whitten Steps In as Cruise CEO Amid Robotaxi Setback

General Motors has appointed Marc Whitten, a veteran tech executive with a background in the video game industry, as the new CEO of its autonomous vehicle service, Cruise. This move comes after California suspended Cruise’s robotaxi operations due to a collision involving one of their autonomous vehicles.

General Motors has appointed Marc Whitten, an experienced technology executive with a significant background in the video game sector, to lead its embattled robotaxi service, Cruise. The announcement came on Tuesday as the company aims to recover from a serious collision that led to the suspension of its California license.

Whitten, a key figure in the development of the Xbox video game console, will assume the role of Cruise's chief executive almost nine months after an incident in which one of Cruise's autonomous taxis dragged a pedestrian—who had already been hit by a human-driven vehicle—across a poorly lit street in San Francisco.

The October 2023 accident resulted in California regulators halting Cruise's robotaxi operations in San Francisco, despite prior authorization for the driverless vehicles to operate commercially within the city. Local government officials had voiced concerns about the autonomous technology, which were seemingly confirmed by the incident.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)