General Motors Co. is cutting almost half of the workforce in the Cruise driverless car unit, according to an internal memo and people familiar with the matter, part of a previously announced plan to halt robotaxi service and absorb the operations into its broader business.

GM is laying off roughly 1,000 employees at its Cruise autonomous vehicle unit, cutting nearly 50% of its workforce.

In June 2024, GM injected another $850 million into Cruise, bringing its total spend on the company since acquiring most of Cruise’s shares in 2016 close to $10 billion. In September, Elshenawy, president and chief technologist of Cruise, threw a huge party for Cruise staffers that some read to be a sign that the company was moving forward.