General Motors' (GM's) autonomous car subsidiary, Cruise, is expanding its robotaxi service to Los Angeles, California. The company will start testing its self-driving vehicles in Los Angeles soon, with plans to launch a robotaxi service eventually.

Cruise's expansion to Los Angeles coincides with a substantial surge in its autonomous driving operations, manifesting in a monthly rise of 49% in self-driving rides and a weekly count surpassing 10,000 rides.

The company also mentioned it plans to launch the service in more locations throughout the year.

Analyst QuickTake: Today’s move places Cruise in direct competition with Alphabet’s self-driving tech development unit Waymo, which also operates a commercial robotaxi service in Los Angeles, adding to the existing rivalry between the duo in other territories like San Francisco (California), Austin (Texas), and Phoenix (Arizona). Cruise's expansion has been rapid, moving from operating only in San Francisco to eight cities within a span of about a year. The list includes Phoenix (Arizona), Austin , Houston, Dallas (Texas), Miami (Florida), and more recently, Nashville (Tennessee). However, Cruise currently has commercial operations in only three of the cities—namely, San Fransisco, Austin, and Phoenix.