The decision of the car manufacturer General Motors (GM) to bury its plans for robotaxis also weighs on Microsoft. The company announced an impairment loss of around $800 million for the second quarter (ended at the end of December) on Wednesday evening after the US stock market closed. This will reduce earnings per share by around nine cents, it said.
Microsoft holds a minority stake in GM subsidiary Cruise. GM had announced the end of the driverless taxi service the evening before. Instead, the car manufacturer will rely on assistance systems that will eventually enable autonomous driving in private cars.
The car manufacturer worked for a long time to build a driverless taxi service with its subsidiary Cruise. The project cost around ten billion US dollars. Cruise had ambitious growth plans and wanted to launch in Tokyo after a number of US cities. New types of vehicles have already been tested without any steering wheel or pedals. The turnaround is expected to save a billion dollars annually, GM announced.
The segment is highly competitive anyway. Google's sister company Waymo is currently the most successful robotaxi developer and transports passengers in several US cities. Another provider, Zoox, which is part of Amazon, will soon offer driving services in Las Vegas and San Francisco, among other places. Tesla boss Elon Musk will start production of a robotaxis without a steering wheel and pedals at the electric car manufacturer in 2026. The “Cybercab”, which was introduced in October, is only supposed to make do with cameras, while Waymo and Zoox also rely on significantly more expensive laser radars that scan the surroundings. That would give Tesla a significant cost advantage.
For Microsoft, GM's exit means a negative impact on earnings of nine cents. However, earnings per share at Microsoft are expected to be $14.97 for the full year 2025, so the impact here will be limited. The strong positioning in the area of artificial intelligence remains important. Microsoft shares have recently picked up speed again after a lengthy consolidation. The all-time high from July at $468.35 is now within reach again. AKTIONÄR readers can sit back and relax anyway. Since the recommendation in March 2000, they are now around 200 percent ahead. Let profits run!
Contains material from dpa-AFX
