Owl, the two-way dash cam founded by a team of ex-Apple and Dropcam executives, has secured a $10 million Series A1 round led by Canvas Ventures. This brings Owl’s total funding to $28 million. “We’ve seen a lot of pent-up demand for car security, and Owl is tapping into that demand with a product that’s… Continue reading Owl raises $10 million for two-way car dashboard camera
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
China’s Didi beefs up its newly-independent car services business with an acquisition
A week after spinning out its driver services business and giving it $1 billion in investment capital, Didi Chuxing has added to it through an acquisition. Xiaoju Automobile Solutions (XAS), which the Didi spinout is called, announced today it has bought Hiservice, a three-year-old company that provides after-service care for car owners using a digital platform.… Continue reading China’s Didi beefs up its newly-independent car services business with an acquisition
FiveAI to start a trial of its shared autonomous car fleet in London in 2019
After raising $35 million to develop driverless car technology and a strategy to build a fleet of shared vehicles, UK startup FiveAI is announcing its first on-street trial: a service aimed at commuters in the London outer boroughs of Bromley and Croydon. Projected to begin in late 2019, it will kick off first with a… Continue reading FiveAI to start a trial of its shared autonomous car fleet in London in 2019
New Uber feature uses machine learning to sort business and personal rides
Uber announced a new program today called Profile Recommendations that takes advantage of machine intelligence to reduce user error when switching between personal and business accounts. It’s not unusual for a person to have both types of accounts. When you’re out and about, it’s easy to forget to switch between them when appropriate. Uber wants to… Continue reading New Uber feature uses machine learning to sort business and personal rides
Apple hints at plan to build a car after all as it rehires ex-Tesla engineering head
If you’re looking for hints that Apple might deliver on its long-rumored plan to develop its own car, a significant one landed this week after it emerged that Doug Field — Apple’s former VP of Mac hardware engineering — has rejoined from the company after a spell with Tesla. John Gruber at Daring Fireball broke… Continue reading Apple hints at plan to build a car after all as it rehires ex-Tesla engineering head
Lime is expanding its low-income program
Lime, the electric scooter and bike-share startup, is expanding its program for people with low incomes. Called Lime Access, the program enables people who qualify for state or federal assistance programs to access Lime’s fleet of vehicles at a discount. Lime first launched the program in May. At the time and up until now, it… Continue reading Lime is expanding its low-income program
New York City Council votes to cap licenses for ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft
The New York City Council has approved legislation that will halt the issuing of new licenses for ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft. The stated goal of the policy is to give the city time to study the industry’s impact. During that time, ride-hailing companies would only be able to add new vehicles if they’re… Continue reading New York City Council votes to cap licenses for ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft
Elon Musk explains why taking Tesla private is ‘the best path forward’
Earlier today, Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted about how he’s considering taking Tesla private. Now, Tesla has published an email Musk sent to employees today that describes his rationale. However, no decision has been made yet, Musk wrote in the email. Musk says it’s “the best path forward” because taking Tesla private would help minimize… Continue reading Elon Musk explains why taking Tesla private is ‘the best path forward’
Scale, whose army of humans annotate raw data to train self-driving and other AI systems, nabs $18M
The artificial intelligence revolution is underway in the world of technology, but as it turns out, some of the most faithful foot soldiers are still humans. A startup called Scale, which works with a team of contractors who examine and categorise visual data to train AI systems in a two-sided marketplace model, announced that it… Continue reading Scale, whose army of humans annotate raw data to train self-driving and other AI systems, nabs $18M
Self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics raises $40 million
In Don Burnette and Paz Eshel’s view, trucking is the killer app for self-driving technology. It’s what led Burnette to leave the Google self-driving project and co-found Otto in early 2016, along with Anthony Levandowski, Lior Ron, and Claire Delaunay. And it’s what would eventually prompt Burnette to leave Uber— href=”https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/18/uber-acquires-otto-to-lead-ubers-self-driving-car-effort-report-says/”>the company that acquired Otto—and co-found… Continue reading Self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics raises $40 million