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Dan Kan, Cruise’s co-founder, quits one day after CEO’s exit

A Cruise vehicle drives down the road in San Francisco.
A Cruise robotaxi waits at a stoplight. | Source: Isaac Ceja/The Standard

The co-founder of embattled robotaxi firm Cruise has quit, just one day after the CEO announced his resignation.

Dan Kan, who created the company alongside Kyle Vogt and served as its chief product officer, resigned from his post on Monday, a Cruise spokesperson confirmed in an email.

Vogt and Kan co-founded the autonomous vehicle maker in 2013. It was acquired by General Motors in 2016 for an estimated $1 billion.

Cruise co-founder Kyle Vogt speaks onstage at a conference in Austin, Texas.
Kyle Vogt speaks onstage at a SXSW panel on March 14, 2023, in Austin. | Source: Getty Images for SXSW

Vogt announced his departure in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday evening.

“The startup I launched in my garage has given over 250,000 driverless rides across several cities, with each ride inspiring people with a small taste of the future,” Vogt wrote.

The executives’ departure comes weeks after Cruise had its driverless permit suspended by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

The agency alleged that Cruise didn’t show regulators complete footage of an Oct. 2 incident in Downtown San Francisco in which a robotaxi dragged a woman after she was hit by a human driver. The firm was reportedly planning job cuts in response to the regulatory crackdown.

Earlier this month, Cruise announced a recall of all 950 of its robotaxis in response to the Oct. 2 incident.

Annie Gaus can be reached at annie@sfstandard.com