I think this is more a recognition that autonomous vehicle technology is going to take a decade or more to provide driverless rides at a national scale,” said Phil Koopman, a

General Motors’ move Tuesday to halt funding for its Cruise robotaxi program makes way for Silicon Valley rivals to take a firmer hold of the potentially multibillion-dollar business. But experts say bowing out is the right choice for the embattled Cruise.

Automotive giant General Motors announced Tuesday that it would be pulling funding from its robotaxi firm Cruise, though it gestured at future plans to continue developing self-driving cars.

Microsoft will take an $800 million charge on its investment in the Cruise robotaxi business after General Motors announced it would no longer fund the initiative as part of a shift in its autonomous driving strategy.