On Wednesday, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt formally resigned from his role overseeing General Motor’s high-profile self-driving robotaxi business. The announcement comes a month after GM completed its acquisition of the San Francisco-based startup, and is a shock for many as Vogt had just taken a larger role overseeing the development of autonomous vehicles for GM.
Vogt was previously a co-founder and CTO of Cruise, a self-driving robotaxi unit that GM purchased in 2016. Following the acquisition, the startup was integrated into GM’s autonomous driving unit and Vogt was given the role of GM’s vehicle engineering lead.
Previously, Vogt had acted as Cruise’s CEO since GM acquired Cruise in 2016. During his tenure, he helped incubate the self-driving robotaxi unit and develop its technology.
In his resignation statement, Vogt stated that he made the decision to leave Cruise to pursue an unspecified ‘exciting opportunity’ outside of GM. He did not provide any details about his next venture.
Unfortunately, his departure comes as a setback for GM’s autonomous driving program. In the past, Vogt had been praised for his ability to lead and manage Cruise, and the startup was making progress in developing its technology.
It is unclear who will be taking the reins of GM’s Cruise unit in Vogt’s absence. However, the automaker is expected to move quickly to find a suitable replacement to ensure that its efforts to bring self-driving vehicles to the public are not adversely affected.