Bird Rides, the shared electric scooter startup that operates in more than 200 cities across 3 continents, said Wednesday it is going public by merging with special purpose acquisition company Switchback II with an implied valuation of $2.3 billion. The announcement confirms earlier reports, including one this week from dot.la, that Bird intended to go… Continue reading Bird Rides to go public via SPAC, at an implied value of $2.3B
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
Lidar startup Innovusion closes $64M round led by Temasek
More investors are joining the wave to bet on lidar, the remote sensing method that uses laser light to measure distances and has garnered ample interest from automakers in recent times. But it’s also a technology that has long been scorned by Elon Musk partly due to its once exorbitant costs. Innovusion, a five-year-old lidar… Continue reading Lidar startup Innovusion closes $64M round led by Temasek
The Station: Einride preps for a US expansion, Argo AI reveals its lidar specs and a Tesla Autopilot reality check
The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive it every weekend in your inbox. Hello and welcome back to The Station, a weekly newsletter dedicated to all the ways people and packages move (today and in the future) from Point A to… Continue reading The Station: Einride preps for a US expansion, Argo AI reveals its lidar specs and a Tesla Autopilot reality check
Tesla refutes Elon Musk’s timeline on ‘full self-driving’
What Tesla CEO Elon Musk says publicly about the company’s progress on a fully autonomous driving system doesn’t match up with “engineering reality,” according to a memo that summarizes a meeting between California regulators and employees at the automaker. The memo, which transparency site Plainsite obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request and subsequently… Continue reading Tesla refutes Elon Musk’s timeline on ‘full self-driving’
Oculii looks to supercharge radar for autonomy with $55M round B
Autonomous vehicles rely on many sensors to perceive the world around them, and while cameras and lidar get a lot of the attention, good old radar is an important piece of the puzzle — though it has some fundamental limitations. Oculii, which just raised a $55M round, aims to minimize those limitations and make radar… Continue reading Oculii looks to supercharge radar for autonomy with $55M round B
Tesla supplier Delta Electronics invests $7M in AI chip startup Kneron
Despite a persistent semiconductor shortage that is disrupting the global automotive industry, investors remain bullish on the chips used to power next-generation vehicles. Kneron, a startup that develops semiconductors to give devices artificial intelligence capabilities by using edge computing, just got funded by Delta Electronics, a Taiwanese supplier of power components for Apple and Tesla.… Continue reading Tesla supplier Delta Electronics invests $7M in AI chip startup Kneron
Uber’s mixed Q1 earnings portray an evolving business
Today, Uber followed Lyft in reporting its Q1 2021 earnings this week. And like its rival, its results take a little bit of work to understand. So, this afternoon, we’re going to parse them as a pair so that we both understand what’s going on at the ride-hailing and food-delivery giant. Let’s start with the… Continue reading Uber’s mixed Q1 earnings portray an evolving business
GM CEO Mary Barra wants to sell personal autonomous vehicles using Cruise’s self-driving tech by 2030
GM CEO Mary Barra sees the automaker selling personal autonomous vehicles by the end of the decade by leveraging technology from its self-driving subsidiary Cruise, according to comments made during the company’s Wednesday earnings call. Barra wasn’t providing any specifics just yet, but instead laid out a vision for the automaker’s future and how its… Continue reading GM CEO Mary Barra wants to sell personal autonomous vehicles using Cruise’s self-driving tech by 2030
Lucid Motors taps Waymo, Intel veterans ahead of public listing
Lucid Motors is beefing up its executive and technical leadership team, hiring people from Waymo, Intel and Xperi as it prepares to become a publicly listed company. The automaker said Wednesday that Sherry House, who formerly worked at Waymo, will be its new chief financial officer. House was at Waymo for four years, most recently… Continue reading Lucid Motors taps Waymo, Intel veterans ahead of public listing
Argo’s new lidar sensor could help Ford, VW deploy self-driving vehicles at scale
Four years ago, Argo AI made its first acquisition as a young, newly backed self-driving vehicle startup. Now, Argo says its acquisition of lidar company Princeton Lightwave is paying off and is poised to help it deliver autonomous vehicles that can operate commercially on highways and in dense urban areas starting next year. Argo AI… Continue reading Argo’s new lidar sensor could help Ford, VW deploy self-driving vehicles at scale