The self driving company Cruise that was acquired by General Motors in 2016 is reportedly expanding and growing to Seattle as the company seeks more engineering talent to develop its technology.
However, Cruise does not have any plans right now to test its autonomous vehicles in the city. The company is planning to set up offices in Seattle to attract and hire between 100 to 200 engineers by the end of 2019.
“To continue growing a team that is diverse and rich in talent, we feel that it’s important to explore talent pools outside of the Bay Area, and Seattle’s vibrant tech community and proximity to our headquarters in San Francisco make it a logical choice,” CEO Kyle Vogt said.
Cruise is looking towards and considering a number of locations in the Seattle area. There are no plans to house autonomous test vehicles at the Seattle location. Also, the hunt for qualified people with backgrounds in software engineering, robotics and AI has heated up.
GM Cruise has one of the most aggressive timelines among companies hoping to deploy a commercial self-driving vehicle service. The company has also mentioned that it is planning to launch a commercial autonomous ride-hailing service in 2019.