General Motors has hired former key Xbox engineer and executive Marc Whitten as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Cruise, its robotaxi service, to recover after being suspended from its California license. 

The Associated Press reported that GM made the move Tuesday (June 25), nine months after one of the service's robotaxis dragged a jaywalking pedestrian after being struck by another human-driven vehicle across a darkened San Francisco street before coming to a stop.

This prompted California regulators to shut down Cruise's robotaxis in San Francisco in early October 2023 after it gave the company approval to charge for rides in the city despite local government approval. 

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GM's Attempt to Let Cruise Bounce Back

Because of this setback, GM has since scaled back its massive investments in Cruise, which hoped to generate $1 billion in annual revenue by 2025.

The incident and cutbacks resulted in the slashing of 900 jobs just weeks after Cruise co-founder and former CEO Kyle Vogt resigned after the crash. 

In a statement, Whitten said that Cruise could still improve its transportation safety record and that it was an "opportunity of a lifetime" to lead the embattled company.

The Washington Post reported that Whitten was also an executive at the video game engine Unity before taking the job at Cruise.

GM's announcement of Whitten as the new Cruise CEO came on the same day that rival robotaxi service Waymo disclosed that its driverless vehicles were ready to operate in San Francisco. 

While Waymo had no accidents involving its vehicles, it recently issued a voluntary recall requiring a software update to be delivered throughout its fleet after one of its robotaxis hit a telephone pole in Phoenix, where it has since established its operations.

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