Explosive Growth at Cruise

Cruise, already staffed at about 1,000 people, is looking to double in size, primarily by hiring engineers.

Cruise probably has driven more miles autonomously than any company except Waymo — maybe into the mid-single-digit millions of miles. Waymo has somewhere between 15 and 20 million miles.

Cruise reportedly has ~1,000 staff and is looking to double to 2,000. Similarly, Waymo has ~1,000 employees.

Cruise has been hoovering up billions of dollars in investment from companies like SoftBank. Part of the SoftBank playbook involves growing so big, so fast, that nobody wants to challenge you.

The autonomous vehicle industry is constrained by a number of factors besides just cash: hardware, safety, engineers. But cash solves a lot of problems, so hold onto your seat.