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☆ Cruise vehicles cause weekend traffic jam one day after California approves 24-7 robotaxi service
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In an aerial view, Chevrolet Cruise autonomous vehicles sit parked in a staging area on June 08, 2023 in San Francisco, California. On Thursday, California regulators voted to approve round-the-clock robotaxi service in San Francisco from two rival companies: Waymo and Cruise. By Friday night, a group of Cruise vehicles had stopped short in the city's North Beach neighborhood, flashing hazard lights and causing a traffic backup, according to reports. "There's over 10,000 human ride-hail drivers in San Francisco, potentially much more than that, depending on how you count it," Vogt said on the call. So it does not make a very high number to generate significant revenue in a city like San Francisco.

Persons: Cruise, Waymo, Tekedra Mawakana, Chris Ludwick, We've, Ludwick, Kyle Vogt, Vogt Organizations: Chevrolet Cruise, California's Public Utilities Commission, Google, Cruise, General Motors, CNBC Locations: San Francisco , California, Autonomous, San Francisco, California, Cruise, Beach, U.S, Vallejo, North Beach

☆ Cruise, Waymo Get Approval to Expand Driverless Vehicles in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Lindsey Choo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

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Persons: Dow Jones, 923fe89d

☆ San Francisco moves to center of robotaxi universe after California agency vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Cruise and Waymo have been running experimental services limited by times and geographic areas within San Francisco. The approval “marks the true beginning of our commercial operations in San Francisco,” said Tekedra Mawakana, Waymo co-CEO, in a prepared statement. San Francisco is important as both a symbolic hub of tech and, with hundreds of AVs already in operation, the largest test lab for the experimental cars. The vehicles, with empty driver seats and self-turning steering wheels, have become a common sight around San Francisco. Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma advocated for a delayed vote noting the volume of public comment and her lingering concerns following evidence that the vehicles have obstructed emergency vehicles in San Francisco.

Persons: Heather Somerville, Waymo, Motors ’, John Reynolds, AVs, Cruise, ”, Tekedra Mawakana, Prashanthi Raman, Uber, Genevieve Shiroma, Greg Bensinger, Jamie Freed, Diane Craft Organizations: General Motors Corp, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Motors, California Public Utilities Commission, Transportation, Cruise, Locals, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Technologists, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, California, U.S, San Francisco's, Francisco

☆ Regulators give green light to driverless taxis in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Nadia Bidarian | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

San Francisco first responders, city transportation leaders and local activists are among those who shared concerns about the technology. “Today’s permit marks the true beginning of our commercial operations in San Francisco,” said Tekedra Mawakana, co-CEO of Waymo, in a press release. Until Thursday’s vote, Cruise and Waymo could offer only limited service to San Francisco residents. The San Francisco Police Officers Association, San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association and the San Francisco Fire Fighters Local 798 all wrote letters to the CPUC in the week leading up to the originally scheduled vote on June 29. 2022 was the worst year on record for traffic fatalities in San Francisco since 2014, according to city data.

Persons: Cruise, “, ”, Tekedra Mawakana, Drew Pusateri, General Motors, Matthew Sutter, Justin Sullivan, Critics, Tracy McCray, Jeanine Nicholson, ” Nicholson, Waymo, Genevieve Shiroma, ” Shiroma Organizations: CNN, Cruise, San Francisco, California Public Utilities Commission, Waymo, General, Francisco, San, San Francisco Police, Association, Sheriffs ’ Association, San Francisco Fire Fighters, San Francisco Fire Department, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Locations: California, San Francisco, San, Waymo, San Francisco , California, “

☆ California agency approves San Francisco robotaxi expansion amid heavy opposition
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In an aerial view, Waymo autonomous vehicles sit parked in a staging area on June 08, 2023 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty ImagesAlphabet Inc's Waymo and General Motors' Cruise can operate paid robotaxi services using unmanned self-driving vehicles throughout San Francisco, California state regulators voted on Thursday, in the face of vigorous pushback from city transportation, safety agencies and many residents. The move marks a critical step forward in regulating the robot cars, which Waymo, Cruise and others have been systematically rolling out in cities and states around the nation. San Francisco, however, is important as a both symbolic hub of tech and, with over 500 autonomous vehicles already in operation, it is the largest test lab for the experimental cars. The vehicles, with empty driver seats and self-turning steering wheels, have become a common sight around San Francisco.

Persons: Justin Sullivan, –, Cruise, Uber, Waymo Organizations: General Motors, California Public Utilities Commission, Locals Locations: San Francisco , California, San Francisco

☆ San Francisco's robotaxi dream has been realized, but some locals and campaigners think things are about to spin out of control
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

On Thursday, California regulators voted in favor of expanding robotaxi services across the city. On Thursday, regulators at the California Public Utilities Commission voted 3-to-1 in favor of greenlighting the expansion of robotaxi services across the entirety of San Francisco. This signaled their confidence in the safety of driverless vehicles for more than 800,000 citizens. It is this that will linger in the minds of San Francisco's residents as robotaxis go mainstream in the city. This does, of course, pale in comparison with the number of accidents that take place daily in regular vehicles, but it highlights challenges for driverless vehicles nonetheless.

Persons: Cruise, Prashanthi Raman, hasn't, robotaxis Organizations: Morning, Golden, Traffic Safety Administration, California Public Utilities Commission, General Motors, EV, Cruise, LinkedIn, Reuters Locations: Francisco's, California, San Francisco, Silicon Valley

☆ Robotaxis get the green light to roam the streets of San Francisco at any hour of the day
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Cruise and Waymo got the go-ahead from state officials Thursday to offer driverless rides 24/7. Robotaxi companies Cruise and Waymo have been given the go-ahead from state officials to offer driverless rides in San Francisco at any hour of the day. Before it got the green light from officials, Cruise and Waymo had been authorized to offer its services from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m in limited areas of San Francisco. "Today's permit marks the true beginning of our commercial operations in San Francisco," Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said in a blog post . San Francisco firefighters were forced to smash the front window of a Cruise driverless taxi in January to stop it from running over their hoses as they were engaged in active firefighting.

Persons: Cruise, Waymo, CPUC, Kyle Vogt, Tekedra Mawakana, Darcie Houck, Francisco firefighters, AVs, John Reynolds, Waymo didn't Organizations: California Public Utilities, Morning, California Public Utilities Commission Locations: California, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Mountain, Francisco

☆ California agency to vote on San Francisco robotaxi expansion amid heavy opposition
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A Cruise self-driving car, which is owned by General Motors Corp, is seen outside the company's headquarters in San Francisco where it does most of its testing, in California, U.S., September 26, 2018. REUTERS/Heather Somerville/File PhotoSAN FRANCISCO, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Amid strenuous pushback from San Francisco officials and many residents, a California state agency is set to vote on Thursday on a proposal to allow the city to be blanketed in self-driving taxis at all hours. But the vote at the meeting that begins at 11 a.m. PDT (1800 GMT) comes amid vigorous opposition from transportation and safety agencies in San Francisco. The CPUC has twice delayed the vote, in part because of the mounting opposition. Outfitted with spinning sensors, Waymo and Cruise vehicles are an arresting sight around San Francisco, particularly to visitors unaccustomed to cars with no human driver behind the wheel.

Persons: Heather Somerville, Cruise, Waymo, Greg Bensinger, Jamie Freed Organizations: General Motors Corp, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, San Francisco, Motors, California Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, California, U.S, San

☆ Driverless Taxis Can Expand San Francisco Services, Regulators Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The expansion plan was the first indication that driverless cars could be commercially viable after billions of dollars in investments by the tech and auto industries. “San Francisco would be a proof of concept” for the rest of the country, said Matt Wansley, a law professor at Cardozo School of Law in New York. Darcie Houck, a commissioner who voted for the expansion, said the companies had met requirements that the state set out. Cruise operates 300 vehicles in San Francisco during the night and 100 during the day, while Waymo operates 250 throughout the day. Waymo said its driverless fleet would “align” with rider demands, while Cruise said it would focus on expanding the market to new parts of the city, since it had offered paid rides only in northwest San Francisco.

Persons: Matt Wansley, Darcie, Waymo, Cruise Organizations: Cardozo School of Law, Cruise Locations: San Francisco, New York

☆ San Francisco Balks at Expanding Driverless Car Services on City’s Roads
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Yiwen Lu | More About Yiwen Lu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the past year or so, a jarring sight has become common in San Francisco: driverless cars buzzing around the city’s streets with no one at the wheel and an expensive array of electronic sensors guiding the way. But a plan by two companies to expand driverless taxi services in San Francisco has met stiff resistance from city officials and some activists. The fight has become a Rorschach test for local tolerance of the tech industry’s new ideas: Are the driverless cars an interesting and safe transportation alternative? With more than 800,000 residents, hilly San Francisco is the second most densely populated city in the country. Whether self-driving cars can succeed in the city will be a harbinger for their viability in other communities.

Persons: Cruise Organizations: California Public Utilities Commission, General Motors Locations: San Francisco, California

☆ San Francisco drives tech; will it drive away robot taxis?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Greg Bensinger | Thomson Reuters | Greg Bensinger Joined Reuters As A Technology Correspondent In Focusing On The World'S Largest Technology Companies. He Was Previously A Member Of The New York Times Editorial Board | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/3] A Cruise self-driving car, which is owned by General Motors Corp, is seen outside the company?s headquarters in San Francisco where it does most of its testing, in California, U.S., September 26, 2018. Futuristic test vehicles from Cruise and Waymo are a common sight in some parts of San Francisco. The vote comes at a critical time for San Francisco, which is grappling with thousands of tech job losses, firms leaving the city, and COVID-era work-from-home policies that have contributed to a hollowed out downtown. loadingRamón Iglesias, another San Francisco resident, said that though he’d seen the videos and some erratic behavior from the cars, he supports the expansion and worries any further obstacles could drive tech companies away. “We have a very strong Luddite segment here in San Francisco and you see places like Las Vegas and Miami go out of their way to embrace tech,” said Iglesias, a data scientist.

Persons: Heather Somerville, Waymo, ”, Kyle Vogt, X, ” Cruise, San Francisco, Cruise, Julia Ilina, Mike Smith, Ramón Iglesias, he’d, Iglesias, “, London Breed, Greg Bensinger, Peter Henderson, Diane Craft Organizations: General Motors Corp, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Motors, San, San Francisco County Transportation Authority, Cruise, California Public Utilities Commission, Las, Ford, Tesla, Francisco, FIRST, ”, London, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, California, U.S, Francisco, San, San Francisco County, State, dazzled, Dallas, Miami, Las Vegas, Los Angeles

☆ Waymo's robotaxis coming to Austin, Texas
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-03 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Waymo, the Alphabet -owned autonomous vehicle company, is officially entering the land of breakfast tacos: Austin, Texas will become the newest city to offer Waymo's ride-hailing services, according to a Wednesday announcement. Austin is the fourth major city to allow Waymo's ride-hailing pilot program, behind Metro Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Waymo's autonomous ride-hailing service will be available night and day in areas like downtown Austin, Barton Hills, East Austin, Hyde Park, Riverside and more, according to a blog post. Bonelli declined to share a specific vehicle count for Waymo's planned Austin fleet. Waymo announced in late July it would "push back the timeline" on its autonomous semi-truck development and instead focus on autonomous ride-hailing services.

Persons: Austin, Chris Bonelli, Bonelli, Waymo's, Waymo, Andreessen Horowitz Organizations: Metro Phoenix, CNBC, Hyde Locations: Austin , Texas, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, LA, Barton Hills, East Austin, Hyde Park , Riverside, U.S

REUTERS/Heather Somerville/File PhotoAug 3 (Reuters) - Cruise, General Motors' (GM.N) robotaxi unit, said on Thursday it had signed the driverless car industry's first labor union agreements, a significant milestone as unions and robotaxi firms have historically been at odds. The company is partnering with two local San Francisco union chapters that represent electrical workers and janitors, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 6 and Service Employees International Union Local 87. Reuters could not definitively determine if these are the driverless car industry’s first union agreements. Cruise, which offers limited service in San Francisco with a fleet of Chevrolet Bolts fitted with driverless technology, has accumulated over 3 million driverless miles, the company said. Reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Heather Somerville, ”, John Doherty, Cruise, Anna Tong, Leslie Adler Organizations: General Motors Corp, REUTERS, General Motors, San, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Employees International Union Local, Reuters, United Auto Workers, Detroit Three, GM, Chevrolet Bolts, California’s Public Utilities Commission, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, California, U.S, IBEW

☆ Waymo to focus on ride-hailing services, pushes back autonomous trucking efforts
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 26 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Waymo is focusing on its ride-hailing service, Waymo One, while pushing back its efforts to develop commercial autonomous trucking technology, the self-driving unit said on Wednesday. The company said it is seeing significant growth and demand for ride-hailing services in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles, and is focusing on achieving commercial success in the business. Waymo said it will continue its collaboration with strategic partner Daimler Truck North America to take its autonomous trucking platform forward. The unit's Waymo Driver technology is used in a variety of use cases, from ride-hailing to trucking. "We continue to see a significant future commercial opportunity for our trucking solution alongside other commercial applications of the Waymo Driver," Waymo said.

Persons: Waymo, Akash Sriram, Pooja Desai Organizations: Daimler Truck North, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Daimler Truck North America, Bengaluru

☆ Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat leaving role to become president and chief investment officer
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ruth Porat, Alphabet CFO, at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland on May 23rd, 2022. Ruth Porat will step down as Alphabet 's chief financial officer and take a new role as president and chief investment officer, the company announced on Tuesday. She took over as CFO for Google in 2015 and oversaw the transition into the company's current Alphabet structure. She will continue as CFO until Alphabet selects a replacement, and will continue to report to CEO Sundar Pichai, the company said. Before joining Google, Porat was an executive at Morgan Stanley.

Persons: Ruth Porat, Sundar Pichai, Ruth, Porat, Morgan Stanley Organizations: Google Locations: Davos, Switzerland

☆ Twitter is rebranding to X. Here are 5 more tech companies that controversially changed their names or faced backlash.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Here are five more tech companies which changed their names — some controversially, and others leading to success. From The Facebook to Facebook, then MetaMark Zuckerberg at Harvard University, three months after The Facebook was created. But the business plan was first written for a company called Cadabra, as in a magician's "Abracadabra." Before Twitter became X, X.com became PayPalPeter Thiel, left, and Elon Musk, right, hold VISA credit cards branded with the X.com company logo on October 20, 2000. Paul Sakuma/APElon Musk cofounded the online payment company X.com in 1999 before it merged with Peter Thiel's Confinity a year later.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Rick Friedman, Sean Parker, Justin Timberlake, Zuckerberg, that's, Frances Haugen, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Martin Magunia, Brin, Sundar Pichai, Mike Krieger, Kevin Systrom, Stephen Chernin Instagram, Andreessen Horowitz, Krieger, Systrom, Instagram, Jeff Bezos, Evan Agostini, —, Bezos, Mackenzie Scott, X.com, PayPal Peter Thiel, Paul Sakuma, AP Elon Musk, Peter Thiel's Confinity, Jimmy Soni's, Thiel, Walter Isaacson Organizations: Twitter, PayPal, Morning, Facebook, Harvard University, Meta, VR, Reality Labs, Google, Getty, Stanford, Microsoft, REUTERS, Baseline Ventures, Stanford University, Inc, Amazon, AP Elon, eBay Locations: Burbn

☆ 28-year-old self-made billionaire started his self-driving car company in his parents' garage—now he's worth $1.6 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Ashton Jackson | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

When Austin Russell was a 17-year-old high school student, he founded Luminar Technologies, which makes laser sensors that can help self-driving cars detect nearby objects. Now 28, Russell is the world's youngest self-made billionaire, according to Forbes, as Luminar competes with major companies like Tesla and Alphabet's Waymo. But self-driving cars aren't exactly commonplace on American roads, meaning Russell and Luminar have a lot of work ahead of them, despite their lofty valuations. How it differs from Tesla's approachElon Musk's Tesla also seeks to popularize self-driving cars, and Musk's approach to the technology is entirely different. Lidar could potentially change that, Russell says: Cameras can be helpful "for certain use cases," but lidar is "a huge step forward."

Persons: Austin Russell, Russell, Waymo, —, Luminar, Elon Musk's Tesla, Mario Herger, Herger, Tesla Organizations: Luminar Technologies, CNBC, Forbes, Benz, Volvo, Stanford University, Thiel, Washington Post Locations: Orlando , Florida, U.S

This spreadsheet, viewed by Insider, shows base salaries, equity, and bonuses employees reported. The table shows the minimum and maximum base salaries, equity, and bonuses for each role. In addition, Insider created bar graphs that show the highest base salaries each role can make, as well as the roles at Google that have the highest base salaries, equity, and bonuses. These graphs are based on the maximum base salary, equity, and bonus values that were submitted for each role. Not all employees submitted equity and bonus data, but we've included it where they have.

Persons: Googlers, Tamani Jayasinghe Organizations: Google Locations: Alphabet's

Here are some of the notable weather phenomena striking the United States on Wednesday:HEATWAVE BREAKS ARIZONA RECORDA massive heat dome parked over the southern and western United States is keeping tens of millions of Americans under extreme heat advisories. Central Texas, an area stretching from San Antonio north to Dallas, is forecast to reach 105 degrees or higher over the next two days. The all-time high for Death Valley is 134 degrees, which is also the hottest temperature ever recorded on the Earth's surface. "If you have the right kind of weather pattern, you can get this transport of the smoke," Benjamin said. TROPICAL STORMS AND FLOODSHawaii's Big Island was under a tropical storm warning early Tuesday morning as it braced for Tropical Storm Calvin, expected to bring as much as 8 inches of rain and wind gusts of 40 mph, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Persons: Read, Stan Benjamin, Benjamin, Tropical Storm Calvin, Brendan O'Brien, Julia Harte, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Phoenix, Texas ., Yosemite National, Cooperative Institute for Research, Environmental Sciences, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, Tropical, National Weather Service, NWS, Thomson Locations: Phoenix , Arizona, U.S, United States, Hawaii, China, ARIZONA, Texas, Texas . Central Texas, San Antonio, Dallas, , California, Death, Yosemite, California, Conway , New Hampshire, Smoky, Tennessee, Vermont, Montpelier

In a letter sent on Wednesday, Twitter alleged that Meta used its trade secrets to develop its new social media platform, Threads, and demanded that it stop using the information. Twitter said that Meta had hired dozens of former Twitter employees, many of whom "improperly retained" devices and documents from the company, and said Meta "deliberately" assigned them to work on Threads. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in a Threads post on Thursday that no one on the site's engineering team is a former Twitter employee. Legal experts said that while many companies have accused competitors that hired former employees and have a similar product of stealing trade secrets, the cases are difficult to prove. One element courts look at is whether a company made clear to employees that the specific information at issue was a trade secret.

Persons: Meta, Twitter, Andy Stone, Polk Wagner, Wagner, Elon Musk, Sharon Sandeen, Sandeen, Uber, Jody Godoy, Noeleen Walder, Matthew Lewis Organizations: Twitter, University of Pennsylvania, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, Companies, Uber Technologies, Thomson Locations: St, Paul , Minnesota, Alphabet's, New York

☆ Volkswagen to launch self-driving vehicles in Texas by 2026
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Hyunjoo Jin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SAN FRANCISCO, July 6 (Reuters) - Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) said on Thursday that it plans to launch autonomous, or self-driving, vehicles for ride hailing and goods delivery services in Austin, Texas by 2026. The company took over nearly 100 people from Argo, as well as its hub in Austin where Argo was testing autonomous vehicles. "The big aim is that we bring fully autonomous vehicles to the market as a commercial, scalable product," said Christian Senger, a Volkswagen board member who oversees development of autonomous driving. Volkswagen joins GM's Cruise and Alphabet's Waymo in testing autonomous vehicles in Austin, Texas, known for the least restrictive regulations on self-driving cars. But Tesla, Cruise and Waymo and other firms have missed their targets to launch self-driving cars and their vehicles have had difficulty in handling rare and unforeseen driving situations.

Persons: Argo, Christian Senger, Cruise, We're, Katrin Lohmann, Hyunjoo Jin, Rashmi Organizations: FRANCISCO, Mobileye, Volkswagen, Argo, Volkswagen ADMT, Companies, Thomson Locations: Austin , Texas, Austin

☆ NHTSA presses Tesla for more records in Autopilot safety probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Tesla must send extensive new records to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration as part of an Autopilot safety probe — or else face steep fines. The agency initiated an investigation into Autopilot safety in 2021 after it identified a string of crashes in which Tesla vehicles using Autopilot had collided with stationary first responders' vehicles and road work vehicles. Instead, Tesla vehicles require a driver behind the wheel, ready to steer or brake at any time. The company's FSD Beta consists of driver assistance features that have been tested internally but have not been fully debugged. Tesla uses its customers as software and vehicle safety testers via the FSD Beta program, rather than relying on professional safety drivers, as is the industry standard.

Persons: Elon Musk, Porte, Tesla, Ronald Belt, Lars Moravy Organizations: SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter, Viva Technology, Porte de, National, Safety Administration, Beta, Cruise, FSD Beta, NHTSA Locations: Paris, France, U.S

☆ VW to test self-driving in retro-styled electric Microbuses
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Ten self-driving electric Volkswagen buses will soon cruise the streets of Austin, Texas, testing autonomous driving technology. Buzz electric vans will test technology VW is working on with Mobileye, an Israeli company once owned by Intel that also works with BMW, General Motors and Ford. VW won’t operate it’s own taxi service, though, as some other autonomous driving companies have planned, the company said in its announcement. VW joins joins companies such General Motors’ Cruise, which is also operating self-driving vehicles in Austin, and Waymo, the autonomous driving subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet. Both automakers said at the time they would hire Argo AI staffers to support their own autonomous driving efforts.

Persons: Ford, Vokswagen, Motors ’, Mobileye, van Organizations: CNN, Argo, VW, Intel, BMW, General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen, Motors, Austin, Miami, automaker’s, Vehicles Locations: Austin , Texas, Austin, United States, Germany, California, Arizona, New York City, Washington , DC, Pittsburgh

☆ Zoox headcount grows as Amazon's self-driving unit expands testing in Vegas
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Abhirup Roy | Akash Sriram | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO: The assembly line for Zoox, a self-driving vehicle owned by Amazon, is seen at the company's factory in Fremont, California, U.S. July 19, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc’s self-driving vehicle unit, Zoox, is hiring more employees to expand its testing in Las Vegas at a time when the regulatory implications have taken a front seat in the development of autonomous vehicle technology. Levinson said that Zoox autonomous vehicle will not be driving on the Vegas strip yet but is being tested for handling traffic lights, intersections and drive at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. Ford Motor Co and Volkswagen AG last fall announced that they would shut down their Argo AI self-driving unit and focus on driver-assistance technology that provided more immediate returns. Alphabet’s self-driving technology project Waymo laid off 137 employees in a second round of job cuts this year.

Persons: Carlos Barria, Zoox, Zoox’s headcount, Jesse Levinson, Levinson, ” Levinson Organizations: Amazon, REUTERS, Reuters, Ford Motor Co, Volkswagen AG, Argo Locations: Fremont , California, U.S, Las Vegas, California

REUTERS/Nathan FrandinoMOUNTAIN VIEW, California, June 26 (Reuters) - Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL.O) has already tried and failed to bring internet access to rural and remote areas by using high-altitude balloons in the stratosphere. But now, the company is delivering internet service to remote areas by using beams of light. It was initiated in 2016 after attempts at using stratospheric balloons to deliver internet ran into problems due to high costs, company executives said. Taara executives and Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS), one of India's largest telecommunications and internet providers, told Reuters they are now moving toward larger-scale deployment of the new laser internet technology in India. Bharti Airtel's chief technology officer, Randeep Sekhon, said Taara will also help deliver faster internet service in urban areas in developed countries.

Persons: Nathan, Mahesh Krishnaswamy, Taara, Krishnaswamy, Astro Teller, moonshots, Teller, Bharti, Randeep Sekhon, Jane Lanhee Lee, Nathan Frandino, Kenneth Li, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Bharti Airtel, Reuters, Econet Group, Liquid Telecom, Bluetown, Digicel, Airtel, Sciences, Bharti Airtel's, Google, Thomson Locations: Alphabet's, View , California, U.S, California, India, Australia, Kenya, Fiji, Africa, Pacific, Osur, Chennai, Mountain View

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