Cruise and GM Team Up with Microsoft to Commercialize Self-Driving Vehicles

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Jan 19, 2021, 09:00 ET

SAN FRANCISCO and DETROIT and REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cruise and General Motors on Tuesday announced they have entered a long-term strategic relationship with Microsoft to accelerate the commercialization of self-driving vehicles. The companies will bring together their software and hardware engineering excellence, cloud computing capabilities, manufacturing know-how and partner ecosystem to transform transportation to create a safer, cleaner and more accessible world for everyone.

"Our mission to bring safer, better and more affordable transportation to everyone isn't just a tech race – it's also a trust race," said Cruise CEO Dan Ammann. "Microsoft, as the gold standard in the trustworthy democratization of technology, will be a force multiplier for us as we commercialize our fleet of self-driving, all-electric, shared vehicles."

To unlock the potential of cloud computing for self-driving vehicles, Cruise will leverage Azure, Microsoft's cloud and edge computing platform, to commercialize its unique autonomous vehicle solutions at scale. Microsoft, as Cruise's preferred cloud provider, will also tap into Cruise's deep industry expertise to enhance its customer-driven product innovation and serve transportation companies across the globe through continued investment in Azure.

Microsoft will join General Motors, Honda and institutional investors in a combined new equity investment of more than $2 billion in Cruise, bringing the post-money valuation of Cruise to $30 billion.

"Advances in digital technology are redefining every aspect of our work and life, including how we move people and goods," said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. "As Cruise and GM's preferred cloud, we will apply the power of Azure to help them scale and make autonomous transportation mainstream."

"Microsoft is a great addition to the team as we drive toward a future world of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion," said GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra. "Microsoft will help us accelerate the commercialization of Cruise's all-electric, self-driving vehicles and help GM realize even more benefits from cloud computing as we launch 30 new electric vehicles globally by 2025 and create new businesses and services to drive growth."

In addition, GM will work with Microsoft as its preferred public cloud provider to accelerate its digitization initiatives, including collaboration, storage, artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities. GM will explore opportunities with Microsoft to streamline operations across digital supply chains, foster productivity and bring new mobility services to customers faster.

About Cruise:
Founded and headquartered in San Francisco, Cruise's goal is to drive change by building the world's most advanced self-driving, all-electric, shared vehicles that safely connect people to the places, things, and experiences they care about. Join our mission at getcruise.com.

About GM:
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is a global company focused on advancing an all-electric future that is inclusive and accessible to all. At the heart of this strategy is the Ultium battery platform, which powers everything from mass-market to high-performance vehicles. General Motors, its subsidiaries and its joint venture entities sell vehicles under the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Baojun and Wuling brands. More information on the company and its subsidiaries can be found at https://www.gm.com.

About Microsoft:
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release and related comments by management may include forward-looking statements. These statements are based on current expectations about possible future events and thus are inherently uncertain. Our actual results may differ materially from forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including: (1) our ability to deliver new products, services and customer experiences in response to increased competition in the automotive industry; (2) our ability to timely fund and introduce new and improved vehicle models that are able to attract a sufficient number of consumers; (3) the success of our crossovers, SUVs and full-size pick-up trucks; (4) our ability to successfully and cost-effectively restructure our operations in the U.S. and various other countries and initiate additional cost reduction actions with minimal disruption; (5) our ability to reduce the costs associated with the manufacture and sale of electric vehicles and drive increased consumer adoption; (6) unique technological, operational and regulatory risks related to our autonomous vehicle regulations; (7) global automobile market sales volume, which can be volatile; (8) our significant business in China which is subject to unique operational, competitive and regulatory risks as well as economic conditions in China; (9) our joint ventures, which we cannot operate solely for our benefit and over which we may have limited control; (10) the international scale and footprint of our operations which exposes us to a variety of political, economic and regulatory risks, including the risk of changes in government leadership and laws (including labor, tax and other laws), political instability and economic tensions between governments and changes in international trade policies, new barriers to entry and changes to or withdrawals from free trade agreements, changes in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, economic downturns in foreign countries, differing local product preferences and product requirements, compliance with U.S. and foreign countries' export controls and economic sanctions, differing labor regulations, requirements and union relationships, differing dealer and franchise regulations and relationships, and difficulties in obtaining financing in foreign countries; (11) any significant disruption at one of our manufacturing facilities could disrupt our production schedule; (12) the ability of our suppliers to deliver parts, systems and components without disruption and at such times to allow us to meet production schedules; (13) prices of raw materials used by us and our suppliers; (14) our highly competitive industry, which is characterized by excess manufacturing capacity and the use of incentives and the introduction of new and improved vehicle models by our competitors; (15) the possibility that competitors may independently develop products and services similar to ours or that our intellectual property rights are not sufficient to prevent competitors from developing or selling those products or services; (16) our ability to manage risks related to security breaches and other disruptions to our vehicles, information technology networks and systems; (17) our ability to comply with increasingly complex, restrictive, and punitive regulations relating to our enterprise data practices, including the collection, use, sharing, and security of the Personal Identifiable Information of our customers, employees, or suppliers; (18) our ability to comply with extensive laws and regulations applicable to our industry, including those regarding fuel economy and emissions and autonomous vehicles; (19) costs and risks associated with litigation and government investigations; (20) the cost and effect on our reputation of product safety recalls and alleged defects in products and services; (21) any additional tax expense or exposure; (22) our continued ability to develop captive financing capability through GM Financial; and (23) significant increases in our pension expense or projected pension contributions resulting from changes in the value of plan assets or the discount rate applied to value the pension liabilities or mortality or other assumption changes.. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018, and our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. GM cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. GM undertakes no obligation to update publicly or otherwise revise any forward-looking statements.

SOURCE General Motors Co.