General Motors Co. is seeking to lure back some former employees of its defunct Cruise autonomous-vehicle business as part of a renewed push to develop a new driverless car, according to people familiar with the matter. This time around, the project would be focused on autonomous cars for personal use, rather than a robotaxi service, these people said. The first step is development of hands-free, eyes-free driving with a human in the vehicle, with the ultimate goal being a car that can drive with no one at the wheel, they said. The plan was detailed in an employee meeting on Aug. 6 by Sterling Anderson, the former Tesla Inc. Autopilot chief who joined GM earlier this year, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the meeting was private. Anderson said he sees autonomy as the future and that GM will add more talent, including trying to bring back some Cruise workers and hire new staff for the automaker’s Mountain View, California, office, the people said. GM told Bloomberg that it has been running human-driven vehicles on public roads gathering data for the development of self-driving technology. “We’re accelerating the development of autonomous driving technology capable of operating without active human oversight,” spokeswoman Chaiti Sen said in a statement. The lidar-equipped fleet is logging data to “build simulation models that will guide development.”
Plans for a hiring push show Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra remains committed to the increasingly competitive driverless-vehicle market even after shuttering Cruise last year.

Full report : GM plans a renewed push to develop a driverless car for personal use rather than a robotaxi service, and is trying to bring back some ex-Cruise workers.