General Motors (GM) has announced plans to cut funding for its driverless robotaxi company Cruise, in a major pivot away from the commercial robotaxi business toward autonomy development in the company’s personal vehicles.
On Tuesday, GM announced plans to cut funding for Cruise and bring its autonomy development program in-house to its own vehicles, as detailed in a press release. In departing from commercial robotaxi development, the company will instead focus on building out Super Cruise, its “hands-off, eyes-on” driver assistance system, which it says is available in over 20 GM vehicles and logs more than 10 million miles per month.
“Consistent with GM’s capital allocation priorities, GM will no longer fund Cruise’s robotaxi development work given the considerable time and resources that would be needed to scale the business, along with an increasingly competitive robotaxi market,” GM writes in the post.
MORE ON CRUISE: GM’s self-driving arm Cruise hit with its latest fine over crash response
Currently, GM has a roughly 90-percent stake in Cruise, and it says it has agreements with other shareholders to bring that up to over 97 percent, before acquiring any remaining shares and restructuring.
“GM is committed to delivering the best driving experiences to our customers in a disciplined and capital efficient manner,” GM CEO Mary Barra said. “Cruise has been an early innovator in autonomy, and the deeper integration of our teams, paired with GM’s strong brands, scale, and manufacturing strength, will help advance our vision for the future of transportation.”
GM plans to work closely with the Cruise leadership team on restructuring and refocusing Cruise’s operations, which it says it expects will decrease spending by over $1 billion per year upon completion. The automaker also says it expects to complete the plan proposal within the first half of 2025, contingent upon the company’s repurchase of shares and Cruise board approval.
“As the largest U.S. automotive manufacturer, we’re fully committed to autonomous driving and excited to bring GM customers its benefits – things like enhanced safety, improved traffic flow, increased accessibility, and reduced driver stress,” says Dave Richardson, SVP of Software and Services Engineering at GM.
The news comes after the company in September said that it was aiming to re-launch paid driverless ride-hailing services with Cruise in the coming months, following an accident involving one of its robotaxis last October that brought with it mass staff shake-ups and legal trouble.
Cruise Founder Kyle Vogt, who resigned from the company after the aforementioned accident last October, responded to the news of GM cutting funding in a post on X:
In case it was unclear before, it is clear now: GM are a bunch of dummies.
It also comes amidst competition from Google-owned Waymo, Amazon’s Zoox, and others in the emerging driverless ride-hailing industry, as well as Tesla, which unveiled the Cybercab robotaxi in October, set to be based on its Full Self-Driving (FSD) software.
Will Tesla license FSD to GM, BMW, and others?
For years now, many in the Tesla community have suggested that the company could someday license its FSD software to other automakers, once it shifts from Supervised to Unsupervised. It’s interesting to see GM pivot toward an autonomy development model that prioritizes data from customer vehicles, especially following Tesla’s long-anticipated launch of its own robotaxi platform, the Cybercab.
Elon Musk has said many times that the company could and would license FSD to other automakers, though no such partnerships have yet been disclosed. Following a recent video posted on X of the latest version of FSD Supervised, v13.2, the official BMW account responded to another user, affirming that the video was “very impressive.”
https://twitter.com/BMW/status/1866548798798844297
The quote elicited a response from Tesla’s main account, and it has reignited discussions around whether the company would license FSD to other companies. Between that and GM ending funding for Cruise and citing “increased competition” as a factor, it’s probably safe to say that Tesla could be inching closer to making FSD licensing deals a reality.
What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.
Cruise ordered to pay max penalty for delayed accident report
Elon Musk
Tesla’s Elon Musk considers insane Cybertruck mod: ‘Maybe we should make this’
The Cybertruck won’t do what the video shows (at least not in our lifetime), but a very entry-level version of it could be developed.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has teased what could potentially be the company’s next big project, and while it is likely many, many years away, it shows the company truly has its sights set on the craziest things the world has seen.
Musk shared a video created by Grok Imagine, the AI tool that is able to take images and turn them into videos, showing a Cybertruck flying above the clouds and buildings of what appears to be a very futuristic city.
There are also massive robots roaming around in the video, so it is obviously an illustration of what life could look like in several generations.
However, Musk, who does not shy away from some really optimistic projects and goals, shared the video on X and said, “Maybe Tesla should make this.”
Maybe Tesla should make this https://t.co/9ieoqM03Wu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 19, 2025
What is depicted in the video is not what we’d see Tesla create anytime soon. However, the company could potentially engineer something to make the Cybertruck hover, as it plans to do with the Roadster.
Of course, this is likely a huge “if” considering the current state of the car industry. Vehicles are becoming more advanced with every passing day as companies like Tesla, Waymo, and others are working to sort out things like autonomous and driverless travel.
Tesla has been working on somewhat of a similar idea with the Roadster, a vehicle that has been delayed on several occasions because of Musk’s spectacular imagination. Earlier this year, Tesla’s Chief Designer, Franz von Holzhausen, revealed Musk wanted to push the limits of that vehicle even more.
It seems it could be on the way soon, considering Tesla has teased an “epic” demo for the car, which could come before the end of the year.
Tesla has been working to make the Roadster hover, using SpaceX cold gas thrusters. It will also utilize these for what could be an incredibly fast 1.1-second 0-60 MPH acceleration rate that has been teased countless times.
This project that Musk is teasing with the Cybertruck is likely one that we will not see in our lifetimes. However, this is just one example of the outlandish ideas Musk continues to tease for Tesla in the future.
News
Tesla Model Y L addresses one huge complaint from many owners
If you have ever used a wireless charger inside a Tesla or almost any vehicle, for that matter, you will notice that your phone will charge slowly, and it will get extremely hot. This is mostly due to the inherent inefficiency of electromagnetic induction, which is the process that wireless chargers use to transfer energy to the phone.
The new Tesla Model Y L is officially launching in China at a great price and with all of the awesome features of the original model, but with more space. The vehicle is also addressing one huge complaint that many owners have discussed.
The new Model Y L features a more spacious interior, new front seats with adjustable headrests, captains chairs, and mechanical armrests in the second row, and B Pillar air vents for improved circulation.
Tesla Model Y L officially launched: price, features, and more
However, there are some other features that are flying under the radar, including one that addresses a common complaint of many Tesla owners: wireless charging.
If you have ever used a wireless charger inside a Tesla or almost any vehicle, for that matter, you will notice that your phone will charge slowly, and it will get extremely hot. This is mostly due to the inherent inefficiency of electromagnetic induction, which is the process that wireless chargers use to transfer energy to the phone.
The inefficiency is evident in the heat, as that is the lost energy that should be going to the phone, but does not.
To combat this problem, Tesla has rolled out a new feature with the wireless charging mat in the Model Y L.
Tesla has used small slit air vents in the center of the wireless charger, which separates the two pads, to blow cool air on the phones to prevent overheating:
In a first for @Tesla, the new Model Y L has air cooled wireless phone chargers. The charging base has small slit air vents in the center that blows cool air onto your phone to prevent overheating.
The left driver’s side wireless charger now supports up to 50W charging speeds… pic.twitter.com/g6o4XgkYYE
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) August 19, 2025
This will keep the temperature of your phone down and could prevent the dreaded “iPhone too hot” message that deems your device unusable until it reaches a more stable temperature.
Additionally, Tesla has upgraded the driver’s side wireless charger to support 50W charging speeds. The passenger charger remains at 30W.
This is a small but valuable improvement to the wireless charging apparatus could be a game changer, as there have been so many complaints about this feature in other Tesla vehicles.
News
Tesla Model Y Performance zips around Nurburgring with new features
With the performance, there are some improvements to interior aesthetics, but the goal with this particular trim of Tesla vehicles is to improve performance and aerodynamics, bringing a truly first-class experience to one of the best and fastest vehicles on the road.
The long-awaited Tesla Model Y Performance has been spotted zipping around the famed Nurburgring in Germany, a popular location for new vehicles to test their limits ahead of public release.
Earlier this year, Tesla executives Franz von Holzhausen and Lars Moravy both indicated that the updated and upgraded Model Y Performance would be on its way by the end of 2025, and it appears that time is coming close.
New images captured by Wilco Blok and Teslaplaidtokde on X show the Model Y Performance wrapped in camouflage, sporting a handful of new features as the lightning-fast version of the world’s best-selling vehicle prepares for a launch in various markets across the world:
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- Credit: Wilco Blok on Instagram
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- Credit: Wilco Blok on Instagram
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- Credit: Wilco Blok on Instagram
New Features
According to Blok and Teslaplaidtokde, the new Model Y Performance will feature a variety of new improvements compared to the past version.
This is something that was expected, as the launch of the new Model Y over the past year has shown various changes that made a great vehicle even better.
With the performance, there are some improvements to interior aesthetics, but the goal with this particular trim of Tesla vehicles is to improve performance and aerodynamics, bringing a truly first-class experience to one of the best and fastest vehicles on the road.
View this post on Instagram
Here’s what was mentioned as changes so far that have been seen on this test mule at Nurburgring:
- New 21″ wheels
- All black headliner, a big change that was included in the Model Y L, the first time a Model Y has had that option
- Updated brakes
- Bucket seats that appear to be similar to the new Model Y L in China
- New Carbon Fiber Spoiler
- Performance Badging
- Changes to both the front and rear bumper
- Suspension with Adaptive Dampers
View this post on Instagram
Expected Performance Metrics
These are not official figures, but this is what is expected based on what has been seen at the Nurburgring:
- 510 horsepower
- 0-60 MPH in 3.2-3.4 seconds
- 280-290 miles of range
- Anticipating the release of a new Track Mode
The previous iteration of the Model Y Performance featured 503 horsepower and a 0-60 MPH of 3.5 seconds. It also had a top speed of 155, which we believe will be improved with the next version of the Y Performance.
Here is some footage of the Model Y Performance running around the Nurburgring ahead of its release:
🚨 The Tesla Model Y Performance appears to have run some spirited laps at the Nurburgring in preparation for its launch https://t.co/PccY2KY2NF pic.twitter.com/Cd1TVwhNZq
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) August 18, 2025
Tesla has not yet listed any date or timeframe for the Performance variant to be released. However, it is anticipated to be released by the end of 2025.
Tesla’s Elon Musk considers insane Cybertruck mod: ‘Maybe we should make this’
Tesla Model Y L addresses one huge complaint from many owners
Tesla Model Y Performance zips around Nurburgring with new features
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