Since there is so much negativity in this thread, let me balance it with my take as someone who worked at Cruise for 5 years (left 3 years ago).<p>Kyle is the smartest, most technically capable, driven person I have ever had the opportunity to work for. He had a deep technical understanding of the system, a great intuition for unnecessary complexity, and a constant desire to find and resolve engineering bottlenecks. And he was deeply motivated by a goal of safety and saving lives.<p>After the GM acquisition, he could have enjoyed an early retirement. GM were eager to give us all Windows laptops and turn us into a San Francisco outpost, just as they had done with their Sidecar acquisition. But instead, Kyle worked tirelessly to ensure we had sufficient freedom and independence to build.<p>I know this wasn't everyone's experience with Kyle. I know plenty of people he pushed too hard and who left much earlier than I did. But for every person who burned out, there were others motivated by his energy and loved who working for him.<p>Is Cruise over? Probably not. There are still a ton of extremely smart people working there, and they are still in possession of a world-leading AV technology (probably second only to Waymo, who had a 5 year head start). But I hope they can maintain their Silicon Valley culture and not succumb to becoming a complete GM outpost.