General Motors stated it will add over 1,100 jobs in California during 5 years at its Cruise Automation unit to increase its self-driving efforts after getting $8 million in state tax credits.
The biggest U.S. automaker stated it is investing $14 million in a recent research and development center in San Francisco that will more than double its existing space. GM obtained Cruise Automation for $1 billion in March 2016 as part of its effort to develop autonomous cars.
The automaker is testing over 50 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles with self-driving innovation on roads in San Francisco, the Detroit metropolitan area Scottsdale, Arizona.
“Running our autonomous car program as a startup is providing us the speed we have to continue to remain at the forefront of development of these innovations and the market applications,” stated GM CEO Mary Barra.
When GM obtained Cruise in last year, the automaker had been working to establish hardware and software that could be set up in an automobile to make it possible for the vehicle to pilot itself on a highway, without the motorist steering or braking.
Standard car business have been making major financial investments in ride-sharing and technology business as market executives stress that the century-old business of building and offering vehicles that people drive themselves might move quickly in the near future.
California has strongly courted firms to invest in self-driving research and development. A state filing stated General Motors had 485 direct workers in California last year and will have over 1,640 by 2021.
