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☆ The future of travel: 10 concepts that will change the way we experience the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Kate Springer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +22 min

Concepts that feel plucked from sci-fi novels and films are quickly making their way into mainstream travel, shaping every step of the journey. Seamus PayneLike air travel, eco-conscious hotels are paving the way for more sustainable travel in the future. HyperloopTTUS entrepreneur Elon Musk has been talking about hyperloop technology – an ultra-high-speed transport system in a low-pressure vacuum tube – for years. Meanwhile, Toronto-based TransPod hopes to bring hyperloop technology to Canada with its eponymous tube-based transportation system powered by renewable energy. By 2025, the company plans to build a 620-mile-per-hour TransPod link between Calgary and Edmonton, connecting the two cities in 45 minutes.

Persons: Elijah Nouvelage, Indira Gandhi, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Austin Farmer, we’ll, don’t, David ”, you’ll, Alexander the Great, ” Michael Breer, KAWS, collectables –, Breer, ” Breer, You’ve, ” Jetson, Peter Ternstrom, Apollo, Cruise, ”, what’s, Boom’s, –, Seamus Payne, room2, Marcel Breuer, Tesla, charades, Yusaku Maezawa, Elon Musk, hyperloop, Virgin Hyperloop, HyperloopTT, Hardt Hyperloop Organizations: CNN, Travel, Hartsfield, Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Bloomberg, Getty, Dubai International Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, Indira, Indira Gandhi International, European Union, Emirates, Dubai International, American Airlines, United, Delta, Bluetooth, Alaska Airlines, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, Specterras Productions, CNN Travel, VR, Aircraft, Federal Aviation Administration, Baidu, Hyundai, Las, CNN Travel ., Alphabet Inc, Beta, International Civil Aviation Organization, Alice, DHL, Air New, Concorde, Japan Airlines, Bauhaus, CEH Technologies, Origin, SpaceX, International Space, NASA, Galactic, Space Training Academy, Nastar Center, Boring Company, Virgin, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, China Morning Post, China Aerospace Science, Industry Corporation, European Hyperloop Center Locations: Singapore, Dubai, Tokyo Narita, Tokyo Haneda, Delhi, London Heathrow, Paris, Dutch, Europe, Florence, Palmyra, Machu Picchu, New York, Ehang, China, Boston, Las Vegas, Motional, Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, North America, Austin, Beijing, Chongqing, Wuhan, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Mexico, Air New Zealand, Denver, New York City, Frankfurt, LA, Sydney, London, New Haven , Connecticut, Hungarian, Norway, Red, Saudi Arabia, Amsterdam, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Shanxi province, Netherlands, Toronto, Canada, Calgary, Edmonton

☆ Cops yell at stalled self-driving Cruise car to get out of the way during a mass shooting in San Francisco, video shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Jake Swearingen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Cruise self-driving car seemed to block first responders during a mass shooting in San Francisco. A Cruise self-driving taxi disrupted emergency crews responding to a mass shooting in San Francisco on Friday night, according to witnesses and videos posted online. pic.twitter.com/fICRtS6e05 — Paul Valdez 🚲🏳️‍🌈 (@paulvaldezsf) June 10, 2023Videos show an officer shouting at the stalled Cruise car, its logo visible on a rear door, to move from the middle of the street. The incident is the latest safety issue for self-driving cars in the streets of San Francisco. In May 2023, a Waymo driverless car wandered into the middle of an active fire in San Francisco, forcing firefighters to helplessly yell "No!

Persons: Cruise, fICRtS6e05 — Paul Valdez 🚲🏳 Organizations: city's Mission Locations: San Francisco, city's

☆ CEO and Google X co-founder: 'Mission doesn't come so easily'—how she found hers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Gili Malinsky | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

It's taken decades to connect the dots between her mission and the best way to implement it on the ground. Here's how she went from tennis player to Google X co-founder to entrepreneur. 'Do you want to help start this new unit called Google X?' In 2009, "I basically got a call saying, 'Hey, do you want to help start this new unit called Google X?'" "I wanted to build a combination of hardware, software and people to build the solutions to help everyday people," she says.

☆ Video shows police yelling at a driverless Waymo taxi to stop before it runs over a fire hose
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Footage obtained by San Francisco news site Mission Local shows police trying to stop a Waymo driverless taxi. The driverless taxis ferrying passengers throughout San Francisco are a technological marvel — and sometimes a nuisance. Waymo operates autonomous taxis in San Francisco and Phoenix, and customers can hail rides through an app. As impressive as they are, the driverless taxis on roads today still have trouble reacting to unusual situations like blocked streets or commands from first responders. A recent viral Tik Tok video shows a police officer repeatedly gesturing for a Waymo taxi to pull over.

☆ I rode in a Waymo self-driving taxi with no driver and it was a smooth and safe ride, despite my initial fears
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Taylor Rains | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The ride back to the salon took about 10 minutes and the drop-off was easy. Overall, I would use Waymo again because it felt like I was able to see and understand everything the car was doing. I could rate my ride after arriving back at the salon. Taylor Rains/Insider

☆ Tesla's not even in the top 10 of self-driving firms, according to experts who ranked all of the leading companies working on automation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Research firm Guidehouse Insights regularly ranks companies developing automated driving tech. Tesla didn't make this year's top 10, and ranked last of 16 companies assessed. Moreover, of the 16 companies recently ranked by research and consulting firm Guidehouse Insights (which ranks some of the biggest names working on automated-driving technology each year), Tesla came in last. Tesla ranked last in similar lists in 2021 and 2020. To come up with the list, Guidehouse weighs factors such as a company's vision, go-to-market and production strategies, partners, tech, commercial readiness, and more.

☆ China's EV players are starting to compete on driver assist tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Huawei's co-developed Aito electric car brand is now selling an updated version of the M5 model that comes with new driver-assist tech. Around the Shanghai auto show that kicked off last week, electric car startups and Chinese tech companies alike made several announcements about their driver-assist tech. But McKinsey estimates assisted and fully autonomous driving systems in passenger cars could generate $300 billion to $400 billion in global revenue by 2035. Those maps, used by autonomous driving companies such as Alphabet 's Waymo, give a car a detailed picture of city streets. Xpeng, considered one of the most advanced technologically, saw deliveries plunge in the first quarter ahead of a more widespread rollout of its assisted driving tech.

☆ Cruise robotaxis now run all day in San Francisco, with public access after 10 p.m.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Kyle Vogt, CEO and founder of GM -owned autonomous vehicle company Cruise, announced Tuesday that the company's robotaxis are now running around the clock in San Francisco. The Cruise service is open to paying members of the public from 10 p.m. to 5:30am in the Northwest part of San Francisco, Cruise confirmed. People who are eligible to ride in the Cruise robotaxis during the day, and in other parts of the city, are not charged a fee. Across San Francisco, Phoenix and Austin, where Cruise is currently operating or testing its vehicles, there are around 240 driverless cars that run concurrently at night, with a majority in San Francisco. The company did not disclose how many robotaxis are in use in a typical day or night in San Francisco.

☆ 2023 layoff tracker: The latest on which companies have announced job cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

New York CNN —BuzzFeed, Lyft, Whole Foods and Deloitte all recently announced layoffs affecting thousands of US workers. With 11,000 job cuts announced in November and the 10,000 announced in March, Meta’s headcount will fall to around 66,000 — a total reduction of about 25%. The company announced in January that it was eliminating some 18,000 positions as part of a major cost-cutting bid at the e-commerce giant. IndeedJob listing website Indeed.com announced cuts of approximately 2,200 employees, representing almost 15% of its total workforce, the company said in March. The cuts come after the company announced several rounds of job cuts throughout the pandemic due to falling demand, followed by rapid hiring last year.

☆ 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.

☆ Inside the Rise and Fall of Kittyhawk, Larry Page's Failed Flying Car Company
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Hugh Langley | Rob Price | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +22 min

Killing off projects had become something of a tradition at Kittyhawk, the secretive flying-car startup launched by the Google cofounder Larry Page. Larry Page has used his Google money to found a series of flying car companies with one common goal: "to free the world of traffic." "When Bloomberg did their original exposé, that's when urban air mobility became a thing," a former Kittyhawk employee recalled. Everyone thought: If Larry Page is in this space, there must be something here." Interpreting "Larry-isms" or "learning to speak Larry" were essential skills for any Kittyhawk employee who wanted to retain their sanity.

☆ China's Zeekr launches electric SUV, targets Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Zoey ZhangCHENGDU, China, April 12 (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle maker Zeekr on Wednesday launched a compact, all-electric sport utility vehicle, as it targeted a premium market in China that has been dominated by German automakers. The Geely-owned [RIC:RIC:GEELY.UL] brand said it also planned to offer the SUV-styled Zeekr X and its Zeekr 001 EV sedan in Western Europe without saying when that would be. The company will start delivering the Zeekr X in China from June with a target of delivering 40,000 this year, An said. After Europe, Zeekr will target Asian markets outside China, An said without providing details. It sold 15,234 of its two existing models - the 001 sedan and the 009 multi-purpose vehicle - in the first quarter, accounting for just 2% of China's battery electric vehicle sales.

☆ Waymo vehicles pull over in California due to fog
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 12 (Reuters) - Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) self-driving technology unit Waymo said on Wednesday that some of its vehicles in San Francisco encountered dense fog and briefly pulled over to the side of the road. The incident, which occurred at around 6.00 a.m. Pacific Time, impeded some traffic movement before the cars moved out of the area as the fog began to clear, Waymo said. "We have software updates planned to improve our fog and parking performance to address such situations in the future," the company said in a statement to Reuters. The company's cars use a system consisting of lidar sensors, cameras and radar sensors to perceive their surroundings. Last week, General Motors' (GM.N) robotaxi unit Cruise said it is recalling self-driving software in 300 vehicles after one of its driverless vehicles crashed into the back of a San Francisco bus.

☆ 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.

☆ US union opposes driverless trucks waiver for Waymo, Aurora
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aurora and Waymo instead want to use warning beacons mounted on the truck cab to avoid needing human drivers. Waymo and Aurora say that without an exemption driverless trucks would need a human on board, which would "undermine the efficiency potential of autonomous CMVs." Waymo responded that the "exemption we put forward would permit compliant autonomous trucking operations while maintaining a high standard of safety." In the joint filing, Aurora said it maintains 28 Class 8 self-driving trucks that run on public roads, primarily in Texas, while Waymo listed 48 Class 8 trucks. Legislation to speed the deployment of self-driving vehicles and ease hurdles has been stalled for more than five years in Congress.

☆ Union opposes driverless trucks exemption for Waymo, Aurora
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aurora and Waymo instead want to use warning beacons mounted on the truck cab to avoid the need for human drivers. It urged the safety board to ensure "rigorous oversight and standards" before widespread deployment of such new technologies. Waymo and Aurora say that without an exemption driverless trucks would need to have a human on board, which would "undermine the efficiency potential of autonomous CMVs." Legislation to speed the deployment of self-driving vehicles and ease hurdles has been stalled for more than five years in Congress. A bill to advance self-driving cars approved by the U.S. House in 2017 applied to vehicles under 10,000 pounds -- but not large commercial trucks.

☆ Go check out these video clips of driverless cars blocking buses and trains in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Dashcam footage obtained by WIRED shows driverless cars in San Francisco blocking buses and trains. In one video, a light-rail train carrying San Francisco Giants fans hit its brakes before almost colliding with a driverless car operated by GM's Cruise. It reportedly took seven minutes for the driverless car to be taken off the track. Another video obtained by Wired shows an eastbound 54 bus being blocked by a driverless car from Alphabet's Waymo. To see the footage and read more about the presence of driverless cars in San Francisco, check out the Wired report here.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ Google's AI teams are experiencing a brain drain. Here's where its top researchers are now.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Top AI researchers have been leaving for startups where their work can have more impact. That frustration over Google's slow movement has been corroborated by other former Google researchers who spoke to Insider. Niki Parmar left Google Brain after five years to serve as a co-founder and CTO of Adept, though like Vaswani she recently left for a stealth startup. Lukasz Kaiser left Google Brain after over seven years to join OpenAI in 2021. Sharan Narang, another contributor to the T5 paper, left Google Brain in 2022 after four years.

☆ How Ford and VW's multibillion-dollar self-driving car project failed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Robert Ferris | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ford Motor bet a billion dollars on a startup called Argo AI to catch up to flashy tech companies like Google , Uber and Tesla . Volkswagen , the second-largest automaker in the world, signed on as a backer in 2019, investing $2.6 billion Argo AI at a valuation of more than $7 billion. By 2021, Argo AI was valued at $12.4 billion and counted 2,000 employees, with offices on two continents and self-driving tests underway in seven cities. There were plans to bring a self-driving taxi service to market by 2021, rivaling those by Waymo and Ford's larger Detroit rival, General Motors . But in October 2022, Argo AI shut down.

☆ 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."

☆ Self-driving startup Gatik to double workforce, strikes Kroger deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Abhirup Roy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SAN FRANCISCO, March 15 (Reuters) - Self-driving trucking startup Gatik will double its workforce by year end, a top executive said, after it announced a deal on Wednesday with grocer Kroger Co (KR.N) to transport goods within its Dallas, Texas network. Gatik, which operates traditional mid-sized trucks fitted with its autonomous technology, aimed to expand to 15 new U.S. states over five years, CEO Gautam Narang told Reuters. Many investors in the self-driving industry have grown sceptical as complicated technology and tough safety regulations have delayed large-scale commercialization. Autonomous truck company Embark Technology (EMBK.O) said this month it would lay off 70% of its employees and start evaluating options, including winding down the business. Microsoft (MSFT.O)plans to invest more than $10 million in Gatik at a valuation above $700 million, sources told Reuters in January.

☆ GM's Cruise to focus on cost cuts as it ramps up robotaxis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Abhirup Roy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

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. Cruise's rival and Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) self-driving technology unit, Waymo, has this year laid off over 8% of its workforce. The company is also developing a fully autonomous vehicle called Origin from scratch without a steering wheel and with subway-like doors for rideshare and deliveries. "This is a really pivotal year for us that will really transform not just Cruise but the whole perception of autonomous vehicles." Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San Francisco; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Experts ranked the leading self-driving companies. Tesla didn't even crack the top 10.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Research firm Guidehouse Insights regularly ranks companies developing automated driving tech. Tesla didn't make this year's top 10, and ranked last of 16 companies assessed. That's despite CEO Elon Musk's confidence in his Full Self-Driving tech. Moreover, of the 16 companies recently ranked by research and consulting firm Guidehouse Insights (which ranks some of the biggest names working on automated-driving technology each year), Tesla came in last. Tesla ranked last in similar lists in 2021 and 2020.

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