California regulators gave Waymo and Cruise the OK last week to scale up their robotaxi services in San Francisco, but now it seems the city itself won’t have it. On Wednesday, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu filed motions with the California Public Utilities Commission to pause the firms’ plans to charge for robotaxi rides… Continue reading San Francisco presses CPUC to halt Waymo, Cruise robotaxi expansions
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
Altos challenges lidar’s dominance in autonomous driving with 4D image radar
As lidar technology becomes the industry standard in powering autonomous vehicles, a young startup called Altos Radar is stepping up to challenge the light-based remote sensing technology with 4D millimeter wave radar. Based in California and founded in January, Altos Radar recently raised its first round of funding of $3.5 million from ZhenFund, Monad Ventures,… Continue reading Altos challenges lidar’s dominance in autonomous driving with 4D image radar
Cruise and Waymo score a win and a surprising deal between electric aircraft rivals
Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B. All eyes were on San Francisco this week as critics and supporters of deploying self-driving cars on public roads awaited a vote from the California Public Utilities Commission. Tl;dr:… Continue reading Cruise and Waymo score a win and a surprising deal between electric aircraft rivals
Cruise and Waymo win robotaxi expansions in San Francisco
In a win for the autonomous vehicle industry, California regulators have given the green light to Cruise and Waymo to offer commercial robotaxi services across San Francisco 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The commission voted 3-1 in support of the expansions; Commissioner Genevieve Shiroma cast the sole “no” vote. The California Public… Continue reading Cruise and Waymo win robotaxi expansions in San Francisco
Lyft takes a page from Uber’s playbook: Ads
Ride-hailing giant Lyft will start displaying ads in-app, as well as via in-car tablets, rooftops and bikeshare stations. “Lyft has a captive audience throughout their entire ride journey – waiting for their car, matching with their driver, and in ride – and brands can now reach riders in relevant and tailored ways across our suite… Continue reading Lyft takes a page from Uber’s playbook: Ads
Uber, Nvidia-backed delivery robot startup Serve Robotics to go public
Serve Robotics, the autonomous sidewalk delivery robot startup that spun out of Uber’s acquisition of Postmates, is going public via a reverse merger with a blank check company. The reverse merger with Patricia Acquisition Corp was completed this month, according to regulatory filings. Ahead of the merger, Serve raised $30 million in a round led… Continue reading Uber, Nvidia-backed delivery robot startup Serve Robotics to go public
California regulators to decide the future of Cruise and Waymo
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is scheduled Thursday to make a high-stakes vote that will determine the commercial future for autonomous vehicle technology companies Cruise and Waymo — not to mention any other AV company with aspirations to launch commercial robotaxi services in the state. Cruise and Waymo already offer limited commercial services in… Continue reading California regulators to decide the future of Cruise and Waymo
5 lessons robotics founders can learn from the AV industry
Sanjay Aggarwal Contributor Throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s, the autonomous vehicle industry captured the imagination of the startup community and the public. However, the category’s meteoric rise preceded an even more meteoric fall over the last 18 to 24 months. From 2018 to 2021, investments in the AV sector across the U.S. and… Continue reading 5 lessons robotics founders can learn from the AV industry
Cruise inches into Waymo’s territory in the Phoenix area
Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, has expanded its robotaxi radius in the Phoenix area by 20x as it seeks to compete with Alphabet-owned Waymo in its home court. Cruise soft-launched its robotaxi service in Chandler, a city southeast of Phoenix, in December 2022. The expanded arena will now include Tempe and Scottsdale, according… Continue reading Cruise inches into Waymo’s territory in the Phoenix area
Lyft wants to kill surge pricing
Lyft has been cutting fares in order to secure more riders, and it’s working. Bu that success has come with a (literal) cost. The ride-hail company reported Tuesday during its second quarter 2023 earnings an increase in riders and decrease in revenue per active rider. That discrepancy was fueled by a decision by the company to… Continue reading Lyft wants to kill surge pricing