By Connor Hart


Microsoft will record an $800 million impairment charge tied to its minority investment in General Motor's now-scrapped robotaxi program Cruise.

The tech giant expects to incur the charge, which is estimated to ding earnings by about 9 cents a share, during its second fiscal quarter, it said in a regulatory filing Wednesday.

The Redmond, Wash., company invested in Cruise in January 2021, a sign of technology companies taking a greater interest in autonomous technology. Microsoft joined with other companies, including Honda Motor Co., in investing more than $2 billion in Cruise, giving it a valuation of $30 billion at the time.

The charge comes after GM on Tuesday scrapped its Cruise program after nearly a decade and $10 billion in development, citing the time and costs needed to scale the business and increased competition.

The automaker, which said owns about 90% of Cruise and intends to buy out its remaining investors, now plans to realign its autonomous driving strategy. This restructuring will prioritize the development of advanced driver assistance systems, which take over steering and other functions in certain situations and are common on new vehicles today.

The Detroit company will continue developing fully autonomous technology for personal vehicles, building on the progress of its Super Cruise system, a hands-off, eyes-on driving feature that the company introduced several years ago, it said.


Write to Paul Ziobro at paul.ziobro@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-11-24 1705ET