Create what’s next
Sometimes the best way to transform an industry is to create a new one.
Robotics, AI, simulation…
The integrated engineering challenge of our generation
We’re solving a wide array of challenges in one of the most complex urban environments: San Francisco. From designing custom hardware platforms to writing highly optimized code running at low latencies, engineers from over 100 disciplines are doing the best work of their lives to reshape one of the world’s largest industries.
Hardware
Using cutting-edge technology, we design and develop custom hardware that power our software stack, such as the sensors (cameras, radars, acoustics, lidars), compute and network systems, telematics, and infotainment. Thanks to our deep resources and partners at GM, our Hardware engineers are uniquely positioned to transform the market by designing our sophisticated AV system reliably, at scale.
AI
Our vehicles collect petabyte-scale data daily from their sensors, providing rich information about the world. This data fuels our ML-first approach for critical systems of our AV stack. We enable our AVs to detect objects with high precision and accurately predict the actions of other roadway users. This allows our AVs to safely navigate San Francisco and continuously learn from every ride.
Embedded Systems
The Embedded Systems team writes and tests the first layer of software that runs on our autonomous vehicles. Our work ranges from interfacing with hardware to moving large amounts of data into the software stack. We connect our vehicles to reality, bridging the gap between the AV’s sensors and actuators and the highly sophisticated self-driving software — all while focusing on quality and safety.Robotics
The Robotics team fuses AI and ground-breaking robotics algorithms to enable our AVs to conduct critical thinking and follow through on actions within milliseconds. With Cruise’s tooling, infrastructure, data, and talent, we are able to fully explore different solutions to enable a safe and comfortable ride through the unpredictable and ever-changing situations we encounter in San Francisco daily.Simulation
As our self-driving vehicles learn to drive San Francisco’s complex environment, we re-create situations in our simulations and run the equivalent of millions of miles of driving every day. Our highly realistic environments enable engineers to iterate faster and develop new features without ever hitting the road. We focus on automation, easy-to-use tools, and building massively scalable systems.Infrastructure
To accelerate the launch of our AV technology, our Infrastructure team continuously improves reliability, scalability, and developer productivity. From our cloud platform and developer tooling to our highly scalable simulation infrastructure and production network backbone, we build and operate the cloud native infrastructure supporting our AVs and the engineering teams behind them.
Product
As we master self-driving technology, our mobile and product engineers are designing the Cruise ride-hailing service. From developing an intuitive-to-use mobile application to seamlessly unlocking vehicle doors for customers, their work makes riding in a Cruise self-driving vehicle feel natural and effortless.
Challenge accepted
Code fast. Iterate faster.
Making self-driving vehicles that are safer than human drivers is not a linear problem. We develop thousands of tools and simulations to accelerate our learning velocity and improve our speed to market. If you want to see your code impact hundreds of self-driving vehicles in San Francisco, our tools and simulations will get you there. Here are just four of our countless tools that we use to accelerate the progress of our self-driving technology.
Hardware, meet software
Built for full redundancy
40percent
of our vehicle's parts are unique to self-driving
- GM and Honda’s scale and experience with building cars lets us focus on making cars drive themselves.
- Our integrated AV system design is built with safety in mind.
- Auto-grade manufacturing enables our complementary sensors to calibrate better.
Distinct approach
Shaping an industry
Our deep resources, world-class partners, and technology approach of “hardest challenges first” have made us an industry leader.
Deep Resources
We have raised $7.25 billion in committed capital from General Motors, Honda, SoftBank, T. Rowe Price, and others. These investments help shave years off of our timeline to launch all-electric, self-driving vehicles at scale.
World-class Partners
Our partners at GM and Honda bring automotive expertise, resources, and credibility. This depth allows us to focus on developing the unique software and hardware needed to make self-driving vehicles a reality.
Technology Approach
We test our technology in San Francisco because our vehicles encounter construction, cyclists, pedestrians, and six-way intersections up to 47 times more frequently than in suburban environments. We believe this approach will minimize the amount of time needed to safely qualify our vehicles for commercial deployment.
Growing Market
Today, there are 1.2 billion passenger cars that drive 9.6 trillion miles a year. Analysts estimate this global market to be worth $8 trillion dollars a year. Most experts believe that consumers will shift their behaviors towards on-demand ride-hailing with all-electric, self-driving vehicles. We’re working to accelerate this shift.
The Cruise approach of a fully integrated hardware and software stack gives it a unique competitive advantage. We are very impressed by the advances made by the Cruise and GM teams and are thrilled to help them lead a historic transformation of the automobile industry.
Michael Ronen / Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers
