{"id":6794,"date":"2023-10-29T17:48:04","date_gmt":"2023-10-29T17:48:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/investment\/opinion-robo-taxis-remain-a-pipe-dream-and-greedy-companies-have-only-themselves-to-blame\/"},"modified":"2023-10-29T17:48:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-29T17:48:05","slug":"opinion-robo-taxis-remain-a-pipe-dream-and-greedy-companies-have-only-themselves-to-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=6794","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Robo-taxis remain a pipe dream and greedy companies have only themselves to blame"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk and others working on autonomous vehicles have suggested that robo-taxis and driverless cars are around the corner, recent developments say otherwise.<\/p>\n

In a big setback for the autonomous-vehicle industry, Cruise, the AV unit owned by General Motors Co.
\n GM,
\n -4.66%<\/bg-quote>,<\/span>
\n said late Thursday that it would suspend all of its driverless operations around the U.S., not just in California, where regulators this week suspended its recently launched robo-taxis in San Francisco. <\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a case of a technology company moving too fast, and breaking things, but this time to the detriment of the industry and consumers. Cruise miscalculated by trying to roll out its technology before it was ready for primetime \u2014\u00a0especially in the highly regulated world of auto safety.<\/p>\n

Cruise has big ambitions to eventually turn its driverless car fleet into a revenue-generating robo-taxi service across the U.S. and its parent GM has forecast that Cruise could reach $50 billion in revenue by 2030.<\/p>\n

But earlier this week, the company got punished by the California Department of Motor Vehicles for failing to give complete video of an accident earlier this month involving both a human driver and a Cruise vehicle that sent a pedestrian to the hospital with life-threatening injuries after the Cruise car trapped her. A Cruise spokesperson said the company gave the DMV and other regulators the full video and reached out proactively to meet with regulators immediately after the incident.<\/p>\n

While the DMV suspended Cruises\u2019s robo-taxis in San Francisco, the order did not affect Alphabet Inc.\u2019s
\n GOOGL,
\n -0.09%<\/bg-quote>
\n Waymo, which also has approval for a driverless taxi service in the city. But in public filings this year, San Francisco city officials voiced concern about Waymo\u2019s safety record as well. Last year, Waymo filed a lawsuit against the California DMV, seeking to keep some of its crash data private, claiming the data is a trade secret. Waymo was also included in the city attorney\u2019s suits to block the approvals both Cruise and Waymo received for their robo-taxi services.<\/p>\n

Seemingly overnight, San Franciscans over the last year began to see autonomous vehicles across city streets. Those vehicles originally featured a human safety drivers, but companies ditched that security to prove that their cars were safe without a human on board, and to move forward on its revenue generation plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a person had been in the car [as a test driver] they would have realized there was a person under the car,\u201d Carnegie Mellon associate professor Philip Koopman said of the Cruise incident in early October. <\/p>\n

Having safety test drivers in AVs \u201cis for the stuff [companies] didn\u2019t think of,\u201d when developing their software and training their systems, said Koopman, an associate professor\u00a0in electrical and computer engineering\u00a0who has researched AV safety for over 20 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey weren\u2019t as ready as they wanted people to believe,\u201d he added. \u201cThey should operate only with safety drivers, and need to have a serious investigation with independent oversight.\u201d He said Cruise\u2019s next moves will be of vital importance in showing how the company deals with safety concerns. <\/p>\n

Cruise\u2019s approach has been very similar to Uber Technologies Inc.
\n UBER,
\n +1.50%<\/bg-quote>
\n in its early days. That company was also often in the crosshairs of city governments with its unregulated ride-hailing services, but it perhaps learned from its mistakes and got out of the autonomous-driving business in 2020 after a vehicle driven by its self-driving-car unit was involved in a fatal accident. <\/p>\n

In removing the safety drivers from their cars in San Francisco over the last year, both Cruise and Waymo raised the ire of public officials, especially first responders, who said stalled or rogue cars have impeded emergency response efforts. <\/p>\n

Read also: Driverless cars are driving San Franciscans crazy<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to say that AVs are not ready for prime time, and companies should not be deploying them on public roads to the detriment and danger of all road users,\u201d said Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a non-profit in Washington. \u201cAVs are in urgent need of new safety regulations for the self-driving systems and related issues like cybersecurity. Industry transparency and accountability are essential.\u201d\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Chase also pointed out that on a federal level,\u00a0the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration needs to put a laser focus on the information provided by Cruise in its petition for exemptions from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. \u201cIndustry transparency and accountability are essential,\u201d she said in an email.<\/p>\n

Cruise said in its social media post<\/a> that the recent pause was \u201cnot related to any new on-road incidents\u201d and that supervised AV operations will continue. \u201cWe think it\u2019s the right thing to do during a period when we need to be extra vigilant when it comes to risk, relentlessly focused on safety, & taking steps to rebuild public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rebuilding public trust is going to be key, and the only way the company will be able to do that is to improve its disclosures to public safety agencies. It should also take a slower approach to its rollout. But GM may feel pressure to move more quickly, with Wall Street counting on its previous forecasts.<\/p>\n

\u201cGM has been pushing them for results, one imagines,\u201d Koopman said. \u201cThey have been running themselves like a Silicon Valley VC company [and] if they want to change that dynamic, they are going to have to get their safety house in order.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that there has been a continual flow of consolidations, acquisitions and \u201cacqui-hires\u201d in the industry. \u201cThe question is does Cruise become the next one, or does GM say, let\u2019s re-assess, recalibrate, let\u2019s not be as aggressive. Can GM support that?\u201d<\/p>\n

The AV industry is facing a moment of truth with the current suspension of Cruise\u2019s driverless cars. Companies are clearly feeling the pressure to deliver returns, after after investing billions in developing autonomous vehicles that have yet to generate any revenue. But they also risk some severe reputational damage to their core businesses if they continue to promote unsafe technology before its time.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n