GM jumps as Microsoft joins US$2bil self-driving venture

A Cruise car on the streets of San Francisco. Cruise will use Azure to manage its self-driving vehicle network by handling data and mapping. It will also enable driverless cars to communicate with Cruise’s back office and customer-facing app for ride-hailing. — Cruise/TNS

General Motors Co and Microsoft Corp are leading a US$2bil (RM8.10bil) investment round in self-driving car startup Cruise LLC in a deal that will bring the software giant’s cloud and edge-computing capabilities to the venture. Shares of GM surged on the news.

The additional funds will raise Cruise’s post-investment valuation to an estimated US$30bil (RM121.50bil), up from US$19bil (RM76.95bil) when T. Rowe Price Associates Inc invested in the company in 2019, Cruise said in a statement Tuesday. Cruise partner Honda Motor Co and other institutional investors are also participating in the new round.