Cruise driverless cars can now operate 24/7 across San Francisco

The rollout will be incremental, Cruise’s CEO said.

Cruise, the GM-backed driverless car service startup, can now operate their robotaxis across all of San Francisco, 24/7, CEO Kyle Vogt announced on Twitter. Previously, the company could only charge for rides at night, as it was awaiting a permit from the California Public Utilities Commission to sell rides full-time.

“I have been waiting for this day for almost 10 years,” Vogt tweeted, calling it “a pivotal moment for our business.”

In June 2022, Cruise became the second driverless car service — after Waymo — to offer rides commercially, without a human backup driver in the vehicles; its operating area expanded from one corner of San Francisco to most of the city that fall, Freethink previously reported.

Beyond San Francisco, Cruise offers rides in Phoenix and Austin as well, and may be expanding its Lone Star locations — a job description for Dallas recently went up, as reported by Electrek.

According to Vogt, round-the-clock rides will be rolled out incrementally.

“A small portion of our fleet is now serving driverless rides 24 hours a day across all of San Francisco,” Vogt said on a GM earnings call, The Verge reported. “For us, this is a milestone years in the making and represents that our driverless fleet has real commercial value.”

The basic systems in place in San Francisco will be the same ones behind Cruise’s upcoming Origin driverless car model, which Vogt tweeted is “just around the corner.” Purpose built to be used in driverless car service — lacking pedals and steering controls — the Origin will phase out Cruise’s modified Chevy Bolts (even as Chevy does), and is expected to begin testing in Austin this year, per The Verge.

We’d love to hear from you! If you have a comment about this article or if you have a tip for a future Freethink story, please email us at tips@freethink.com.

Related
Farmers can fight invasive insects with AI and a robotic arm
As the invasive spotted lanternfly threatens to expand its range, Carnegie Mellon researchers are developing a robot to fight back.
Google unveils AI try-on feature for shopping
Google’s AI-powered virtual try-on feature lets shoppers see what an article of clothing would look like on a wide range of models.
GitHub CEO says Copilot will write 80% of code “sooner than later”
GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke goes in depth to answer questions about how AI-powered development will change the future of innovation itself.
No, AI probably won’t kill us all – and there’s more to this fear campaign than meets the eye
A dose of scepticism is warranted when considering the AI doomsayer narrative — there are commercial incentives to manufacture fear of AI.
AI is riding to the rescue on wildfires
AI-powered systems designed to detect, confirm, and detail wildfires at the earliest possible time may help firefighters tame infernos in the West.
Up Next
Exit mobile version