Marc Whitten, one of the key engineers behind the Xbox video game console, will take over as Cruise's chief executive nearly nine months after one of the service's robotaxis dragged a jaywalking pedestrian -- who had just been struck by a vehicle driven by a human -- across a darkened street in San Francisco before coming to a stop. The U.S. Justice Department later opened an investigation into a gruesome collision.
The cutbacks resulted in 900 workers being laid off just weeks after Cruise co-founder and former CEO Kyle Vogt resigned from his job in the aftermath of crash that sent the pedestrian to the hospital.The arrival of new leadership at Cruise came on the same day rival robotaxi service Waymo disclosed its driverless vehicles are ready to start picking up anyone in San Francisco who wants ride within the city.