Waymo has become the second company to apply for the newly-available permit to deploy autonomous vehicles without safety drivers on some California roads, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. It would be putting its cars — well, minivans — on streets around Mountain View, where it already has an abundance of data. The company already has… Continue reading Waymo reportedly applies to put autonomous cars on California roads with no safety drivers
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
Car-sharing startup Turo raises additional $12 million
Peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace Turo has officially closed a $104 million Series D round. This comes following a $12 million investment from Sumitomo Corporation and American Express Ventures, on top of a $92 million raise earlier this year. “As a company that is intensely focused on enabling its customers to have unique travel experiences, American Express’… Continue reading Car-sharing startup Turo raises additional $12 million
Singapore orders Grab to delay closing Uber app for an additional 3 weeks
Grab’s plan to shutter Uber’s app quickly following its merger deal in Southeast Asia has hit another snag in Singapore where the ride-hailing firm has been forced to delay closing its rival’s service until May 7. This is the second time that Grab has pushed back the removal of Uber’s app in Singapore, which was initially… Continue reading Singapore orders Grab to delay closing Uber app for an additional 3 weeks
Elon Musk says ‘humans are underrated,’ calls Tesla’s ‘excessive automation’ a ‘mistake’
In a rare mea culpa for the mercurial billionaire, Tesla CEO Elon Musk acknowledged that the company has been too reliant on robots for production. Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 13, 2018 “Excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake,” Musk… Continue reading Elon Musk says ‘humans are underrated,’ calls Tesla’s ‘excessive automation’ a ‘mistake’
Luminar puts its lidar tech into production through acquisitions and smart engineering
When Luminar came out of stealth last year with its built-from-scratch lidar system, it seemed to beat established players like Velodyne at their own game — but at great expense and with no capability to build at scale. After the tech proved itself on the road, however, Luminar got to work making its device better,… Continue reading Luminar puts its lidar tech into production through acquisitions and smart engineering
Cruise, GM’s self-driving car unit, brings on Zippy team
Cruise recently brought on seven team members from Zippy.ai, which develops robots for last-mile grocery and package delivery, for an undisclosed amount of money. The deal did not include any of Zippy’s product or intellectual property. Instead, it seems Cruise was more interested in the skillsets of the co-founders, Gabe Sibley, Alex Flint, and Chris… Continue reading Cruise, GM’s self-driving car unit, brings on Zippy team
Uber CEO outlines mobility plans
Uber is done being solely a ride-hailing company. Under the leadership of CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, the company is well on its way to becoming a multi-modal transportation platform. At a future of mobility event in Washington D.C. today, Khosrowshahi announced Uber’s foray into car rentals, shared bikes in D.C. and public transportation. Khosrowshahi also sat on a… Continue reading Uber CEO outlines mobility plans
Uber gets into car rentals and public transit
Uber is officially a multi-modal transportation platform. On the heels of its acquisition of bike-share startup JUMP, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi today announced Uber Bike‘s expansion into Washington D.C., along with two key partnerships in car rentals and public transit. The first is with instant car-booking service Getaround, which launched at TechCrunch Disrupt NY in… Continue reading Uber gets into car rentals and public transit
Lyft is considering entering Japan’s challenging ride-hailing market for some reason
Lyft, Uber’s chief nemesis in the U.S., is thinking of entering the fiercely competitive Japanese ride-hailing space, according to comments from one of its founders. “We would love to be in Japan, and we also will be looking at that possibility,” John Zimmer, Lyft co-founder and president, said at the New Economy Summit 2018 in Tokyo.… Continue reading Lyft is considering entering Japan’s challenging ride-hailing market for some reason
Insurance giant Allianz confirms $35M investment in Asian ride-sharing unicorn Go-Jek
German insurance giant Allianz is following Google and Tencent by backing Go-Jek, the Indonesia-based ride-hailing and local services company valued at over $4.5 billion, after it announced an investment. The money comes from Allianz X, the firm’s digital investment arm, which confirmed it put in $35 million in what is its first deal in Southeast Asia. The… Continue reading Insurance giant Allianz confirms $35M investment in Asian ride-sharing unicorn Go-Jek