Their whole model was that they would beat the competition to the punch by using off-the-shelf hardware (mostly Velodyne pucks [1]), retrofitting stock cars (they started with an Audi A4 and then moved over to Nissan Leafs), and using textbook algorithms (Kyle competed in the DARPA grand challenge in 2004. Most of the algorithms and methods Cruise used date back to that era. e.g. map-based localization, sample-based planners, etc. ). Their business model was to develop a fleet of autonomous cars and then license them out to other companies to use.
Honestly, as far as I can tell their biggest asset is a relatively complete 3D LIDAR map of San Francisco. Other than that, I don't think they were really set up to compete against the likes of Google, who has the resources and man-power to develop custom cars, algorithms, and sensors. Given this, from the start I thought the company was designed to flip. Originally I figured they'd sell to Google, but looks like I was wrong about that.
Honestly, as far as I can tell their biggest asset is a relatively complete 3D LIDAR map of San Francisco. Other than that, I don't think they were really set up to compete against the likes of Google, who has the resources and man-power to develop custom cars, algorithms, and sensors. Given this, from the start I thought the company was designed to flip. Originally I figured they'd sell to Google, but looks like I was wrong about that.
[1] http://velodynelidar.com/vlp-16.html