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☆ Alphabet’s self-driving car unit has cut 8% of its staff this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Waymo, the self-driving car division of Google (GOOGL)’s parent company Alphabet, said on Wednesday that it has cut approximately 8% of its staff across two rounds of layoffs this year. Some 209 jobs were eliminated in total, after cuts in late January and another more recent round, the company confirmed on Wednesday. “We took a thoughtful approach and feel confident that we’re providing for each of these former teammates through this transition,” the company said in a statement to CNN Wednesday. Rising interest rates have also dried up the easy access to funding tech companies used to fuel ambitious projects and bets on the future. The cuts to Waymo highlight how even Alphabet’s most ambitious and high-profile long-term bets are not immune to its renewed focus on reining in costs.

☆ Alphabet's Waymo cuts 137 jobs in second round of layoffs this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 1 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) self-driving technology unit, Waymo, laid off 137 employees in its second round of layoffs in 2023, the firm told Reuters on Wednesday. Including the latest job cuts, the division has let go of 8% of its workforce, or 209 employees, this year. Investors and industry watchers have been concerned as to how billions of dollars have been poured in the self-driving technology sector in a short span of time to commercialize it. Alphabet said in January it would slash 12,000 jobs, which will affect a large number of employees who support experimental projects. Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru and Abhirup Roy in San Francisco and David Shepardson; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Shinjini GanguliOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Alphabet venture arm CapitalG names Laela Sturdy new head of firm, David Lawee steps aside
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CapitalG partner Laela Sturdy is on track to be one of the year's biggest investors. Alphabet's growth stage venture arm, CapitalG, has named Laela Sturdy its new leader. The move means CapitalG will be one of the few venture firms to be led by a female partner. Generally speaking, CapitalG invests a lot like other growth-stage firms, but with only one limited partner as an investor -- its parent company, Alphabet. "I would say the value Laela has provided has been significantly higher than the money anyone's provided″ Duolingo CEO Luis Von Ahn told CNBC at the time.

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Alphabet, Apple, Nvidia, Best Buy, Zillow & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Goldman Sachs upgrades Nomad Foods to buy from neutral Goldman said it sees an "attractive investment opportunity" to invest in the frozen food company. Goldman Sachs upgrades Willis Towers Watson to buy from neutral Goldman said it sees a robust turnaround for the insurance company. Barclays reiterates Tesla as overweight Barclays said it's standing by its buy rating heading into Tesla's investor event on March 1. Raymond James upgrades Frontier to strong buy from outperform Raymond James upgraded the cable company after its "impressive" earnings report. UBS reiterates Apple as buy UBS said its survey checks show Apple is the preferred brand in both the U.S. and China.

☆ Elon Musk has promised self-driving Teslas for years. Experts say it's not even close.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Elon Musk has made developing autonomous driving technology one of Tesla's fundamental goals. "Today it's financially insane to buy anything other than a Tesla," Musk said at an event touting the carmaker's autonomous-vehicle development in 2019. That revolutionary software update never came, and by 2022 the goalpost for bringing self-driving cars to the masses had shifted to 2023. Full Self-Driving is far from actually being self-driving, some sayDespite its branding, Tesla's Full Self-Driving Beta currently requires total driver supervision, just like cruise control or smarter features like Autopilot. Likewise, McGehee says self-driving cars need a combination of overlapping sensors — whether that's cameras, radar, lidar, or ultrasonic sensors — to move through the world safely.

☆ Luminar, Mercedes-Benz expand deal for self-driving tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Self-driving sensor maker Luminar Technologies Inc (LAZR.O) announced an expanded partnership with Mercedes-Benz Group (MBGn.DE) on Wednesday to enable fully automated driving for its next-generation vehicles. Automakers from Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) to General Motors (GM.N) are focusing on autonomous vehicles, but technological and regulatory hurdles remain. Tech firms such as Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Waymo and Aptiv-Hyundai Motor joint venture, Motional, are also looking to develop autonomous vehicles for commercial use. Luminar and Mercedes-Benz had announced a partnership in January last year. Palo Alto, California-based Luminar also said it plans to build a factory in Asia to support the multi-billion dollar deal.

☆ Amazon's Zoox tests robotaxi on public road with employees as passengers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Abhirup Roy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc's (AMZN.O) self-driving vehicle unit, Zoox, said on Monday it has successfully tested a robotaxi with employees as passengers on a public road in a move to bring it closer to commercial service for the general public. Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) last fall announced they would shutter their Argo AI self-driving unit and focus on driver-assistance technology that provided more immediate returns. Companies still pursuing development of this technology include General Motors Co's (GM.N) Cruise unit and Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Waymo. Online retailer Amazon, which has been aggressively expanding into self-driving technology, bought Zoox for $1.3 billion in 2020. Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco Editing by Ben Klayman and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Amazon's Zoox robotaxi now giving rides to employees on public roads in California
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon -owned autonomous vehicle venture Zoox said on Monday that it is now testing its self-driving robotaxis on public roads in California with passengers on board. Zoox executives said the company began the tests after it received approval from the California Department of Motor Vehicles last week. Zoox said one of its vehicles completed a test run with employees on board over the weekend. Zoox unveiled its custom-built, electric robotaxi in 2020, with an eye on offering on-demand autonomous transportation in urban settings. It will continue to test the vehicle with employees and expects to launch a shuttle service for staffers this spring.

☆ Mercedes-Benz's new self-driving tech is turning up the heat on Tesla at the worst possible time
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Its Drive Pilot feature allows drivers to not pay attention to the road in certain situations. Drive Pilot is a "really big deal," Bryant Walker-Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who specializes in autonomous vehicles, told Insider. But at one level higher, Mercedes' Drive Pilot allows a driver's attention to wander to other tasks in certain situations. There are some caveats: When Drive Pilot hits roads later in 2023, it will only work on certain freeways in Nevada and only at speeds under 40 mph. Still, Drive Pilot isn't sparking a revolution in the way people drive — or don't — just yet.

☆ Tesla confirms DOJ has requested documents on Autopilot, ‘Full Self-Driving’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“Full Self-Driving” steers the vehicle on city streets, but also may stop for traffic signals and make turns to reach a destination. Tesla said that it’s not aware of any ongoing government investigation that has concluded any wrongdoing occurred. NHTSA first investigated Tesla’s driver-assist technology after reports that Autopilot-engaged vehicles were crashing into emergency vehicles stopped at the scene of earlier crashes. The investigation raises the stakes for Tesla and its claim of self-driving technology. IIHS found that 42% of Tesla Autopilot users were comfortable letting the system drive the vehicle without them watching what was happening on the road.

☆ Firefighters smashed the window of a driverless Cruise taxi to stop it running over their hoses
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Firefighters smashed the front window of a Cruise autonomous car to stop it from running over hoses. Another Cruise car ran over a fire hose when it was in use at an active fire scene in June 2022. The incidents were noted in a letter sent by San Francisco officials to regulators on Wednesday. San Francisco firefighters smashed the front window of a Cruise driverless taxi to stop it from running over their hoses. A similar incident occurred in June 2022 when a self-driving Cruise car ran over a fire hose that was in use, the letter says.

☆ Two companies race to deploy robotaxis in San Francisco. The city wants them to hit the brakes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco is trying to slow the expansion of robotaxis after repeated incidents in which cars without drivers stopped and idled in the middle of the street for no obvious reason, delaying bus riders and disrupting the work of firefighters. Some believe self-driving cars will never happen on a wide scale, but they’ve been gaining momentum in San Francisco. San Francisco doesn’t want robotaxis operating in the city’s downtown core, for example, or during morning and evening peak commuting times. He also provided letters in support of Cruise written by local San Francisco merchants associations, disability advocates and community groups. City officials argue that stopped robotaxis are hazards that can cause human drivers to react dangerously.

☆ In a town hall meeting, Googlers demanded to know if activist hedge fund TCI was behind mass layoffs this month
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | Rosalie Chan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Google's parent company Alphabet announced layoffs of 12,000 employees last week. TCI Fund Management previously called for Alphabet to trim headcount following "excessive" growth. Pressure from investors did not drive the decision for last week's announced layoffs of 12,000 employees, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai and CFO Ruth Porat said in an all-hands meeting on Monday. Pichai responded by saying that Alphabet communicates with investors throughout the year and has done so consistently over time. While the company may deny that a hedge fund drives its decision-making, Alphabet nonetheless appears to be fulfilling many of TCI's requests with the layoffs.

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the market Friday: Google job cuts, Netflix delivers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Salesforce (CRM) downgraded to market perform from outperform (hold from buy) at Cowen, which also cut its price target to $160 per share from $175. Barclays upgrades Ralph Lauren (RL) to overweight from equal weight (buy from hold); increases its price target to $134 per share from $101. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

☆ Google's moonshot factory is coming down to Earth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The project, known internally by its codename, "Valkyrie," was the typical science-fiction-sounding idea that Google's self-described "moonshot factory" was designed to dream up. But amid a lack of successful launches and a tech industry facing economic headwinds, insiders say the lab is now hitting the hard-reset button and rethinking its purpose within Alphabet, Google's parent company. X swapped standard corporate titles like "Communications Lead" and "Manager" for grander and more-nebulous names like "Factory Whisperer" and "Firestarter." Its internet-balloon unit, Google Loon, meant to bring people in rural areas online, was shuttered in January 2021. "I think the infusion of VC people is a good thing," one former senior X employee said.

☆ Google's most cutting-edge moonshot lab is refocusing on actually making money
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

I'm Matt Weinberger, deputy editor of Insider's tech analysis team, filling in for my colleague Diamond Naga Siu for the next few days. It's yet another sign that the tech industry is very different than it was even a year ago. A moonshot in the foot for Google: Insider's Hugh Langley reports that Google's X Development is scaling back from its pioneering, famously envelope-pushing roots as a tech research lab. Instead, it'll focus on initiatives that actually make money for Google and its parent company Alphabet. Read Insider's in-depth review of the newest model of the iPad Pro, released in late 2022.

☆ Google's farm-tech moonshot is becoming a full-fledged company as the unit doubles down on more commercial AI projects
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Mineral, an agriculture-tech project inside Google's moonshot lab, X, is spinning out into a company. It's launching under the parent company, Alphabet, as X is evolving to be more commercial. Alphabet's moonshot lab, X, has announced it's turning its agriculture-technology project, Mineral, into an official company. Mineral will spin off of X and become a business under the parent company Alphabet, Mineral's CEO Elliott Grant wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. Mineral entered into a partnership last year with the berry seller Driscoll's to help farmers create tastier strawberries, Bloomberg reported at the time.

☆ Geely's EV brand Zeekr aims to double sales in 2023, expand in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Joseph White | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Carlos Barria/LAS VEGAS, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle brand Zeekr aims to double sales in 2023 to about 140,000 vehicles and plans to expand sales in Europe, Chief Executive Andy An told Reuters on Thursday. Zeekr, a brand created by Chinese automaker Geely (0175.HK), sold 72,000 vehicles in 2022, mostly in China. A second Zeekr model, the 009, will go into production this month. Later this year, Zeekr plans to begin selling vehicles there with assisted driving systems engineered with Mobileye (MBLY.O), he added. An said Zeekr plans to build vehicles for Waymo in China, but U.S. production is a possibility, "depending on the market situation."

WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Albert Gore III, a former Tesla public policy employee, has been named executive director of the Zero Emission Transportation Association (ZETA), the Washington-based group said on Wednesday. Congress in 2021 approved $5 billion for EV charging stations and in August passed new electric vehicle tax credits. "Lots of work ahead, starting with implementation of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program and new industrial policies in the Inflation Reduction Act," said Gore in a LinkedIn post. Gore worked for Tesla for nearly seven years in public policy and business development. The IRA lifts the 200,000-vehicle per manufacturer cap that had made Tesla and General Motors (GM.N) ineligible for EV tax credits.

Jan 4 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is in advanced talks to invest in Gatik, a California-based autonomous driving startup, as part of its cloud partnership with the company, two people familiar with the discussions told Reuters. Microsoft plans to invest over $10 million in a financing round that values Gatik at more than $700 million, the sources added. As part of the deal, Gatik will use Microsoft's cloud and edge computing platform Azure in developing autonomous delivery technology for trucks. Like other big tech companies, Microsoft has recently been putting funds into self-driving technology. In November, Ford and Volkswagen shut down their self-driving technology unit, Argo AI, saying that creating self-driving "robotaxis" would be "harder than putting a man on the moon."

☆ The electric-car industry is set for a pivotal year. Here are 6 VCs' top predictions for 2023, from new trends to investment opportunities.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

2023 is set to bring even more momentum to the electric-car industry than 2022 did. Even with challenges — and some executives' losing faith in the EV biz — the industry can't turn back on its ambitions. Robert Knopes/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesCharging, charging, chargingHistorically, charging hasn't been a money-making venture. Alexei Andreev, a managing director at AutoTech Ventures, said a shakeout could come in the battery industry, where hundreds of startups are racing to compete with giants. The autonomous-vehicle industry took several hits in 2022, but General Motors is still optimistic about Cruise.

☆ Bank of America names the tech stocks set to benefit from a driverless car boom
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Once considered the stuff of science fiction, Bank of America says self-driving cars now have "real-world visibility." The bank said it expects 2.2 million autonomous vehicles to be on the roads by 2028, citing research by consultancy firm Berg Insights. Internet companies Bank of America said this ramp-up in autonomous vehicles has "broad implications" for internet companies. The bank added that getting the cost of autonomous vehicles down to the level of conventional autos will be key to their transition. Bank of America has a price target of $43 on Uber, giving the stock potential upside of 59.3%.

☆ Uber launching driverless robotaxis in Las Vegas
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

While the autonomous vehicles are currently only available for ride hailing in Las Vegas, there are plans to expand to Los Angeles “at a later date,” according to the release. Uber said it plans on launching a fully driverless service with Motional in 2023. U.S. ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc (UBER.N) and driverless tech-maker Motional said on Wednesday they launched their public robotaxi service in Las Vegas. UberMotional has been offering robotaxi services in Las Vegas since 2018 through Uber rival Lyft, though rides before 2020 were offered under parent-company Aptiv. The sale came after a a five-year run of developing self-driving vehicles that was marred by litigation and a fatal crash.

☆ Apple is delaying its long-rumored self-driving car until 2026 and shifting its futuristic design to include a steering wheel and driver's seat, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Apple is scaling back plans for a fully autonomous vehicle. The vehicle's autonomous capabilities would have surpassed those of seasoned automakers like Tesla and Waymo. Now, Apple is putting its plans on pause and scaling back its ambitious vision for a fully autonomous future. And instead of a limousine-style interior, the car will be designed like a traditional vehicle with a driver's seat, Bloomberg noted. The department has about 1,000 employees who are spread across the US and Europe, according to Bloomberg.

☆ U.S. autonomous delivery vehicle startup Nuro cuts staff by 20%
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 18 (Reuters) - Autonomous delivery vehicle maker Nuro is laying off about 20% of its workforce after admitting that rapid hiring in the past year was a mistake, the company's co-founders wrote in an email to employees on Friday. "Laying off team members is always the last resort, but unfortunately it was needed after other options were exhausted," the email said. Nuro's founders, Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu, both worked on Google's self-driving car project, later spun out as Waymo, before launching Nuro. The layoffs will affect about 300 employees; impacted workers will be offered three months severance pay and other benefits, according to the email. Reporting by Ann Maria Shibu in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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