The pursuit of autonomous cars has brought automakers and technology companies closer together than ever. Microsoft and General Motors, a strange bedmate, even though it was a decade or two ago, are working closely together to put Cruise’s robot ax on the road.
On Tuesday, Microsoft announced a $ 2 billion investment round, which also includes funding from GM and Honda, bringing Cruise’s total valuation to $ 30 billion. GM acquired Cruise in 2016; Since then, the self-governing research firm has grown from 40 employees to nearly 2,000, according to the Financial Times.
Microsoft’s involvement gives Cruise a cloud computing backbone to grow and grow faster; In turn, Cruise gives Microsoft access to the whole autonomous car thing, which is fast becoming the domain of the companies that already make your smartphones and much of the TV you want to stream. Of Microsoft and GM joint press release the announcement of the news:
To unlock the potential of cloud computing for self-driving vehicles, Cruise will use Azure, Microsoft’s cloud and edge computing platform, to commercialize its unique autonomous vehicle solutions on a large scale. Microsoft, as Cruise’s preferred cloud provider, will also leverage Cruise’s in-depth expertise to enhance its customer-driven product innovation and serve transportation companies around the world through ongoing investments in Azure.
As we learned last week, GM has many EVs coming, together with interesting new initiatives such as BrightDrop, which deals as much in logistics and software-based fleet management as the manufacture of electric motors. Again, this is where Microsoft comes in, as GM CEO Mary Barra explains:
“Microsoft is an excellent addition to the team as we move toward a future world of zero accidents, zero emissions and no congestion,” said Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of GM. “Microsoft will help us accelerate the commercialization of Cruise’s fully electric, self-driving vehicles and help GM achieve even more benefits from cloud computing as we launch 30 new electric vehicles worldwide by 2025 and create new businesses and services to grow. to bring about. “
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About a year ago, Cruise unveils Origin – the pitch for the autonomous shuttle bus that looks good, as many autonomous shuttle buses are likely to have, because it is a rounded box with lots of glass and large wheels that are pushed to the corners to maximize the inside volume. It certainly looks more conventional than Zoox’s design, but honestly, I do not care what my faceless, soulless wagon of the future looks like – just that it engages me where I go relatively efficiently without killing myself or anyone else.
Cruise has been testing vehicles for five years in the form of custom Chevrolet Bolts. About that time the bolts got a record 2 million miles of testing in the company’s hometown of San Francisco, in addition to earlier tests at GM’s evidence site in Michigan.
Until the end of last year, the voyages are ready with a driver, although Cruise is now presumed fully test driverless cars. Unlike Waymo, it does not look like passengers are still driving around well, as Google’s self-driving startup recently began doing in the Phoenix metro area. It may take a while before Bay Area residents get the chance to drive in an Origin, though Microsoft could speed things up very well.