DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Video shows passengers in driverless car reacting to police officer gesturing to pull over: 'We're sorry, this car won't let us move!'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A video of a driverless car reacting to a police officer generated nearly 14 million views on TikTok. A video of a driverless car reacting to a police officer is going viral on TikTok. In the TikTok video, which has generated nearly 14 million views, a police officer can be seen attempting to guide a driverless Waymo car to the side of the road. "It knew how to respond and essentially try to avoid the parade," Romano said. Romano said the police officer was not upset with him as it was very obvious the car was driverless.

[1/2] A Tesla Model 3 vehicle drives on autopilot along the 405 highway in Westminster, California, U.S., March 16, 2022. Tesla denied liability for the accident and said in a court filing that Hsu used Autopilot on city streets, despite a user manual warning against doing so. "This case should be a wakeup call to Tesla owners: they can't over-rely on Autopilot, and they really need to be ready to take control and Tesla is not a self-driving system," he said. The Hsu trial unfolded in Los Angeles Superior Court over three weeks, with testimony from three Tesla engineers. The main question in Autopilot cases was who is responsible for an accident while a car is in driver-assistant Autopilot mode - a human driver, the machine, or both?

OAKLAND, California, April 19 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley 5G chip startup EdgeQ Inc said on Wednesday it raised $75 million to help fund a ramp up in production as the company starts selling its technology to customers, including telecom operators. EdgeQ makes semiconductors that power base stations for 5G telecom towers and for 5G access points that can be installed inside places like factories to run robots and autonomous vehicles wirelessly, said Vinay Ravuri, CEO and co-founder of EdgeQ. The fundraising shows that companies viewed as promising by investors are able to secure financing even though funding has dried up for many startups following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the ensuing banking sector turmoil in March. EdgeQ has a valuation of "hundreds of millions of dollars", said Ravuri, adding it was "definitely less than" $1 billion. The recent advent of a new open standard chip architecture called RISC-V has made it possible to design its new 5G chip more cost effectively, he said.

☆ Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi developing own driverless taxis, plans to roll them out in 2025
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi debuted the DiDi Neuron, a concept robotaxi. DiDi is working with Chinese carmakers to develop its own autonomous taxis which it is aiming to put into service in 2025. DiDi Global on Thursday said it is developing its own self-driving taxis alongside Chinese carmakers and it plans to roll them out in 2025 on its ride-hailing service. The Chinese giant's autonomous driving unit also showed off a concept robotaxi, or driverless taxi, called DiDi Neuron. DiDi set up its autonomous driving unit in 2016 and spun it off into a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2019.

☆ GM expands high-end Chevy Silverado HD lineup with new ZR2 off-road model
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The latest model revealed Thursday is the Chevrolet Silverado HD 2500 ZR2, a new off-road model for one of GM's most expensive pickup trucks. 2024 Chevrolet Silverado HD ZR2 Bison GM"ZR2 has been a huge success for us," said Michael MacPhee, director of Chevy truck marketing. 2024 Chevrolet Silverado HD ZR2 GMThe company declined to disclose exact pricing for the new ZR2 pickups, saying they will be "aspirational but attainable." The current Chevrolet Silverado 1500 ZR2 starts at about $74,000 for a comparable model. The HD ZR2 trucks will be offered exclusively in the 2500 four-door crew cab configuration.

Lidar technology is used for 3D mapping, navigation and object detection in various high-tech industries. Ouster's complaints said Hesai incorporated its digital lidar technology into the Shanghai-based company's sensors. Ouster accused Hesai's sensors of infringing five patents covering core aspects of its digital lidar technology. It asked the Delaware court for an unspecified amount of money damages and the ITC to bar imports of infringing Hesai products. Hesai settled a patent dispute with San Jose, California-based Velodyne Lidar Inc in 2020.

☆ The wild traffic hack that could pave the way for self-driving cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Adam Rogers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

You might be able to get out of the way of a testosterone-fueled human driver in an SUV, but the self-driving cars will never see him coming. As more self-driving cars enter the market, speed through Hajbabaie's intersections goes up and fuel consumption goes down. The same will be true of proposals like white traffic lights for self-driving cars. If self-driving cars ever move beyond shared services like taxis and deliveries, the first vehicles are going to be owned by wealthy people. The world of tomorrowFor the moment, cities are in no danger of being overrun by self-driving cars.

☆ Exclusive: The University of California has invested billions in venture capital firms since 2000 and it has lost hundreds of millions so far. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Ben Bergman | Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Insider obtained UC Investments' returns through a Public Records Act request. Unlike many other financial institutions, VC funds are not required to show their return on investment in startups. UC Investments, which has been managed by Jagdeep Singh Bachher since 2014, declined to comment. Though selling early produced an initial windfall, UC Investments could have ultimately missed out on substantial gains from these VC funds. By comparison, UC Investments earned a 8.3% return for its investment in public markets.

☆ John Deere CTO: Concerns of a recession not stopping the company from spending more on technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailJohn Deere CTO: Concerns of a recession not stopping the company from spending more on technologyCNBC's Seema Mody joins 'The Exchange' to discuss Deere's growing investment in autonomous vehicles and more.

☆ Peace, love, and Hitler: How Lex Fridman's podcast became a safe space for the anti-woke tech elite
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

Seemingly overnight, episodes of Fridman's podcast began racking up millions of views. YouTube/Lex FridmanIn his podcast, Fridman asks world-renowned scientists, historians, artists, and engineers a series of wide-eyed questions ("Who is God? But recently, "The Lex Fridman Podcast" has become a haven for a growing — and powerful — sector looking to dismantle years of "wokeness" and cancel culture. Twitter"The Lex Fridman Podcast" offered a rare opportunity to listen to four-hour conversations with luminaries of tech and science. Bhaskar Sunkara, the founder and publisher of the socialist magazine Jacobin who appeared on Fridman's podcast in December, praised Fridman's interviewing style.

☆ Bill Gates took a 'test ride' in an autonomous vehicle, and says they'll save you money—take a look
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates says totally driverless cars, without need for even a steering wheel, are "coming sooner rather than later." He also posted a video of his experience:The car's technology was built by British startup Wayve, which partners with Microsoft on its artificial intelligence-based autonomous driving software. Wayve sits among a bevy of tech and auto industry competitors: The likes of Ford, GM, Tesla, Alphabet and China's Baidu have invested billions of dollars toward developing their own driverless vehicle technology. U.S. consumers will likely only gain access to fully self-driving vehicles following a complete overhaul of the nation's driving infrastructure and laws, he added. Last year, U.S. regulators cleared the way for autonomous cars built without steering wheels or even pedals — a first step.

☆ Bill Gates says self-driving cars will be as revolutionary as the PC after riding in one
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

He said the "tipping point" for autonomous vehicles will happen within 10 years. Today, no personal vehicles can drive themselves, though some companies have started offering autonomous-taxi rides in certain cities. Gates believes personal vehicles will get self-driving capabilities only after the tech comes to long-haul trucking, deliveries, taxis, and rental cars. He predicts that autonomous vehicles will eventually be cheaper than regular ones. And he expects that autonomous vehicles will save people time (that they would otherwise be driving) and help the elderly and people with disabilities get around.

☆ Ford withdraws petition seeking U.S. approval to deploy self-driving vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) has withdrawn a petition seeking U.S. regulatory approval to deploy up to 2,500 self-driving vehicles annually without required human controls like steering wheels, according to a letter made public Thursday. Ford had said it intended to deploy a self-driving ride-hailing and package delivery vehicle early in this decade. Ford had sought permission not to include human controls "such as a steering wheel, brake pedal (and) gear state controls." The automaker told the NHTSA in its petition that self-driving vehicles "having active driving controls and communications would introduce an unacceptable risk to safety." Efforts in Congress to make it easier to deploy vehicles on U.S. roads without human controls have been stymied for years.

☆ Elon Musk's self-driving car project is on a road to nowhere
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | 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.

☆ Self-driving startup Venti raises $28.8 mln to speed up growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Self-driving startup Venti Technologies said on Tuesday it has raised $28.8 million in Series A funding to speed up the growth of its autonomous vehicle (AV) business for customers the logistics and supply chain industry. Investors in the funding round included LG Technology Ventures, the venture capital arm of LG Corp (003550.KS) unit LG Group, and UOB Venture Management, the venture capital arm of Singapore's United Overseas Bank. Venti has been developing its self-driving for vehicles for the last three years at one of the world's largest container ports in Singapore and is already generating revenue. This year the company will deploy dozens of entirely self-driving vehicles, CEO Heidi Wyle told Reuters. Developing fully self-driving vehicles that can go everywhere has proven harder and more expensive than expected, but investors are continuing to fund startups that target simpler self-driving vehicle solutions far removed from pedestrians and other vehicles operated by humans.

☆ Oxbotica, Google Cloud partner to scale up autonomous software
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Signage is seen for Oxbotica, an autonomous vehicle technology tech firm, at their company headquarters in Oxford, Britain, June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Toby MelvilleLONDON, March 28 (Reuters) - Oxbotica and Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google Cloud said on Tuesday they are partnering up to speed up the deployment of the British self-driving software startup's autonomous software platform to customers around the world. Oxbotica will use Google Cloud infrastructure to create "scalable, safe, and reliable" autonomous driving solutions for its customers in last-mile logistics, agriculture, light industry, and public transport, the companies said. The companies said Oxbotica will use Google Cloud products to develop and test its self-driving technology, including generating digital twins to validate its platform. Cloud infrastructure is seen as crucial for developing autonomous vehicles at scale.

☆ GM to stop making Chevy Camaro, leaving muscle car’s future uncertain
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Stellantis had earlier announced it would stop production of the larger Dodge Challenger at the end of this year. Around the same time, Dodge executives revealed an electric muscle car concept car that, they said, provided a preview of a future model. GM has not announced any future versions of the Camaro, although it teased that there will be some future for the brand. After five generations of redesigned models, the Camaro was dropped from the lineup in 2002, but brought back in 2010. These muscle cars or pony cars are also among the last car models – as opposed to SUVs or trucks – manufactured by the three automakers.

☆ Nvidia's 'dominant A.I. leadership' is clear after GTC developer conference, Wall Street analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

If there's one takeaway from Nvidia 's developer conference, it's the computing firm's dominant leadership in artificial intelligence, according to Wall Street analysts. Investors piled into Nvidia shares this year as they sought ways to play the growing AI trend. NVDA 1Y mountain Nvidia shares 1-year The event only added to their confidence in the stock. to a multi $Tn+ IT/Infrastructure as a service industry TAM from narrower chip-only industry opportunity," Arya wrote to clients on Tuesday. JPMorgan's Harlan Sur reiterated an overweight rating, saying Nvidia's "dominant AI leadership" is clear following the event.

☆ Cruise robotaxis blocked a road in San Francisco after a storm downed trees and wires
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

General Motors ' self-driving vehicle unit Cruise acknowledged that some of its cars stalled out on city streets in San Francisco following rainstorms that downed trees there on Tuesday night. After that, another tree on Polk and Clay streets fell into the street. In response, he said, the San Francisco Fire Department had blocked off Clay between Polk and Jones streets with caution tape. He said the driverless Cruise vehicles did not appear to detect and avoid the caution tape and bus wires properly, and instead became "tangled in them." Cruise has permits to test and deploy autonomous vehicles in San Francisco all hours of day and night, excluding heavy rain."

☆ Baidu's smart car business to test autonomous vehicles in Shanghai
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] The Apollo logo is seen on a car of Baidu's driverless robotaxi service Apollo Go, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China February 24, 2023. REUTERS/Josh Arslan/File PhotoHONG KONG, March 22 (Reuters) - Apollo, Chinese tech giant Baidu's (9888.HK) smart car business, has received approval to be among the first companies to test fully autonomous vehicles in Shanghai, China's largest city, it said on Wednesday. The business currently operates driverless robotaxi services in specially designated areas of Wuhan, Chongqing and Beijing. Reporting by Twinnie Siu and Eduardo Baptista Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elon Musk's Boring Company wants to build even more tunnels under Las Vegas, but the Loop's Teslas probably won't be self-driving, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's Boring Company wants to build even more tunnels under Las Vegas, a new proposal showed. The expanded Vegas Loop would include 65 miles of tunnels, TechCrunch reported. The Vegas Loop was approved in October 2021 by Nevada's Clark County, which is home to many casinos and the Las Vegas Convention Centre. It would also allow commuters to reach more casinos, shopping areas, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The City of Las Vegas did not comment to TechCrunch other than to say that no construction had begun.

☆ Oxbotica, Goggo team up for autonomous middle-mile delivery
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Nick Carey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - British self-driving software startup Oxbotica and autonomous delivery company Goggo Network said on Wednesday they are teaming up to test middle-mile deliveries for retailers and other customers including Carrefour (CARR.PA) and Dia (DIDA.MC). The partnership will initially see Berlin-based Goggo deploying Oxbotica's autonomy software in Spain in middle-mile delivery operations for partners like Spanish pizza chain Telepizza. Goggo will also use Oxbotica's fleet management system to optimise the operational performance of its autonomous vehicles (AVs), the companies said. Middle-mile delivery routes, where vehicles run on fixed routes between distribution centres, are seen as easier to automate than last-mile deliveries to individual consumers' homes. Oxbotica said in January it had raised $140 million from investors to speed the deployment of AVs in areas including heavy industry, ports and airports.

☆ Goldman Sachs says this self-driving car software stock could fall 35%
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Luminar Technologies shares are too expensive at current valuations and could fall 35%, Goldman Sachs said. Luminar shares outperformed this year as investors moved back into riskier assets. However, the analyst says Luminar shares now have downside after that run-up. Delaney's $5 price target means shares could fall 35% from Tuesday's close. Luminar shares were down more than 8% in Wednesday premarket trading.

☆ GM CEO meets with senators on self-driving cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The Cruise Origin autonomous vehicle, a Honda and General Motors self-driving car partnership, is seen during its unveiling in San Francisco, California, U.S. January 21, 2020. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File PhotoWASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - General Motors (GM.N) CEO Mary Barra met with two key senators on Thursday as the Detroit automaker pushes for legislation to speed deployment of self-driving vehicles on U.S. roads. He added that Barra discussed with the lawmakers "the future of mobility -- including autonomous vehicles." GM wants to deploy its Origin vehicle, which has subway-like doors and no steering wheels. NHTSA said it received notices of incidents in which self-driving Cruise vehicles "may engage in inappropriately hard braking or become immobilized."

☆ Baidu wins permit to offer driverless robotaxi service in Beijing city
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Baidu Inc FollowSHANGHAI, March 17 (Reuters) - Chinese search engine giant Baidu (9888.HK), said on Friday it had won a permit to provide a fully driverless ride-hailing service in the Chinese capital of Beijing. With the permit, Baidu's Apollo service will deploy 10 fully autonomous vehicles in a technology park developed by the government of Beijing, it said in a statement. The permit marks a step forward from December, when Baidu said it had been granted a license to test the service. Baidu will now operate driverless robotaxi services in three Chinese cities including Wuhan and Chongqing. The Beijing-headquartered company, which generates most of its revenue from its internet search engine, has been focused on self-driving technologies over the past five years as it looks to diversify.

Search resuls for: "Autonomous Vehicle"

25 mentions found