Austin Russell is on quite a run. The 28-year-old founder and CEO of Luminar, which develops vision-based lidar and machine perception technologies primarily for self-driving cars, told the Wall Street Journal earlier today that he is buying an 82% stake in Forbes Global Media Holdings in a deal that values the company at nearly $800… Continue reading Austin Russell became the youngest self-made billionaire in 2021; now he owns Forbes
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
Autonomous delivery startup Nuro to lay off 30% of workforce
Autonomous delivery robot startup Nuro will lay off 30%, or about 340 employees, across the company as part of a restructuring meant to extend its capital runway, according to the company. Earlier this week, Nuro co-founders Dave Ferguson and Jiajun Zhu explained in a blog post that the company would cut staff and shift resources… Continue reading Autonomous delivery startup Nuro to lay off 30% of workforce
Toyota Japan exposed millions of vehicles’ location data for a decade
Toyota Japan has apologized after admitting to leaving millions of customers’ vehicle details on the public internet for a decade. The car maker said in a notice that it will notify about 2.15 million customers whose personal and vehicle information were left exposed to the internet after a “cloud misconfiguration” was discovered recently in April.… Continue reading Toyota Japan exposed millions of vehicles’ location data for a decade
Getaround aims to scale car-sharing platform with HyreCar acquisition
Peer-to-peer car sharing company Getaround said Thursday it will acquire the assets of HyreCar, another car sharing marketplace, for $9.45 million. Getaround expects to realize up to $75 million of run rate annualized gross booking value from the deal, which the company says will contribute to positive adjusted EBITDA profitability. “At this acquisition price point, we… Continue reading Getaround aims to scale car-sharing platform with HyreCar acquisition
Bird’s weak stock market performance impacts the entire e-scooter industry
Bird’s first-quarter earnings show a company struggling to maintain ridership and revenue — two legs of the profitability stool for the shared micromobility market. Bird did manage to cut costs — that would be the third leg — but it wasn’t enough to convince investors that the scooter company can find its way to profitability.… Continue reading Bird’s weak stock market performance impacts the entire e-scooter industry
Polestar and Volvo are the latest automakers caught in software purgatory
Software, it turns out, is hard for automakers. And building a so-called software-defined car — the term du jour in automotive circles — is even harder. Software development problems have led to executive shakeups at VW Group, bricked vehicles, recalls and generally unpleasant vehicle experiences. Now, Polestar and Volvo Cars have gotten caught up in… Continue reading Polestar and Volvo are the latest automakers caught in software purgatory
TuSimple continues its slide into the ether with new delisting warning
It wasn’t that long ago that self-driving trucks company TuSimple was on a tear — raising funds, locking in partnerships and hitting some development milestones that seemed to push to it to the front of the AV pack. A string of internal scandals and executive upheaval that resulted in the ousting of co-founder Xiaodi Huo,… Continue reading TuSimple continues its slide into the ether with new delisting warning
VanMoof updates its last-gen e-bikes with simplified X4 and S4 models
Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof is refreshing its entry level lineup with a pair of new bikes available in some very springy colors. The X4 and S4, out this month, retain the frame and philosophy of VanMoof’s previous X3 and S3 e-bikes while trimming some of the complexities that made those models notably high-tech but less… Continue reading VanMoof updates its last-gen e-bikes with simplified X4 and S4 models
Hyundai Motor to invest $2.45bn in India by 2032 to boost EV ecosystem
Hyundai Motor has announced that it plans to invest $2.45 billion (200 billion Indian rupees) over the next ten years in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu to bolster its plans for electric vehicles in the country. On Thursday, the South Korean company signed an agreement (a memorandum of understanding) with the state government… Continue reading Hyundai Motor to invest $2.45bn in India by 2032 to boost EV ecosystem
Wingcopter, Germany’s drone delivery startup, raises another $44M from the EIB
Wingcopter, a startup out of Germany that has made a name for itself in the world of delivery drones used primarily for delivery of medicine and other goods to remote areas, has picked up some more financing to expand its business. The European Investment Bank is putting €40 million (close to $44 million) into the… Continue reading Wingcopter, Germany’s drone delivery startup, raises another $44M from the EIB