Cruise GM has recalled nearly 1,200 robotaxies to shut down the American probe

General Motors’ cruise unit has agreed to recall nearly 1,200 robot axles due to hard braking problems, the US auto safety regulator said on Thursday, following an investigation into the safety of their self-driving systems.

As a result of the withdrawal, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it agreed to close the investigation, which opened in December 2022, after reports of two injuries in three rear-end crashes.

The closure of the investigation is an important step for Cruise as it works to reassure state and federal officials about the safety of its vehicles and eventually resume robotaxi operations without backup safety drivers and take on paying customers.

Cruise said he disagreed with NHTSA’s conclusion that a recall was necessary, but agreed to do so to resolve the investigation.

“We are committed to building trust and increasing transparency around autonomous vehicle technology,” a Cruise spokesperson said Thursday.

Cruise said the vehicles received previous software updates that “significantly reduced the risk of unexpected braking events.” The self-driving unit said it provided NHTSA with data showing that the rate of unexpected braking events in Cruise AVs “is very low and much lower than a human driver.”

NHTSA said none of the incidents it reviewed resulted in a crash or injury.

The regulator opened a separate investigation in October into whether Cruise was taking enough precautions with its autonomous robot to protect pedestrians, which remains open.

Cruise also faces ongoing investigations by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission following an accident last October in which one of its robots struck a pedestrian after being hit by another vehicle and dragged her 20 feet (6 meters).

NHTSA said Cruise vehicles were involved in 10 crashes, four of which resulted in injuries, after analyzing hard braking data from 7,632 incidents commanded by Cruise’s self-driving system.

GM announced last month that it would indefinitely suspend plans to use the autonomous Origin vehicle without a steering wheel.

Cruise, along with other self-driving vehicle technology companies such as Alphabet’s Waymo and Amazon’s Zoox, have come under heavy regulatory scrutiny over safety concerns after accidents involving their vehicles.

In response to the October crash and subsequent investigations, Cruise’s CEO resigned last year, and General Motors later announced plans to cut spending on its self-driving unit.

After stopping all driving after the accident, Cruise resumed supervised self-driving in Phoenix with safety drivers in May.

The California Public Utilities Commission imposed the maximum penalty of $112,500 on Cruise for failing to promptly provide full information to the commission about the October accident.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Anil D’Silva, Shinjini Ganguli and Jan Harvey)