Waymo’s application to expand its robotaxi service in Los Angeles and San Mateo counties has been suspended for 120 days by the California Public Utilities Commission’s Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division (CPED). The decision doesn’t change Waymo’s ability to commercially operate driverless vehicles in San Francisco. However, it does put an abrupt halt to the… Continue reading Waymo’s application to expand California robotaxi operations paused by regulators
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
Uber Eats is launching a delivery service with Cartken’s sidewalk robots in Japan
Uber, along with partners Mitsubishi Electric and autonomous robotics startup Cartken, are launching a service in Japan that will use self-driving sidewalk robots to deliver food to customers. The companies announced that the service offered through the Uber Eats app will launch in a select part of Tokyo by the end of March. An Uber… Continue reading Uber Eats is launching a delivery service with Cartken’s sidewalk robots in Japan
Uber testing prepaid-item pickup from local stores in India
Uber has quietly started testing a feature that lets gig workers pick up prepaid items from local stores and deliver them to customers in India. Called “Store Pickup,” the feature debuted in select U.S. cities in December and is now expanded to Delhi-NCR, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. Customers can order pickups and deliveries and track… Continue reading Uber testing prepaid-item pickup from local stores in India
Waymo recalls and updates robotaxi software after two cars crashed into the same towed truck
Waymo is voluntarily recalling the software that powers its robotaxi fleet after two vehicles crashed into the same towed pickup truck in Phoenix, Arizona, in December. It’s the company’s first recall. Waymo chief safety officer Mauricio Peña described the crashes as “minor” in a blog post, and said neither vehicle was carrying passengers at the… Continue reading Waymo recalls and updates robotaxi software after two cars crashed into the same towed truck
A Waymo robotaxi was vandalized and burned in San Francisco
A Waymo robotaxi was vandalized and then set on fire by a crowd of people Saturday evening in San Francisco’s Chinatown neighborhood. The incident is the latest encounter between driverless vehicles and the public in San Francisco, a city where autonomous vehicle companies have spent years testing the technology on public streets. The Saturday night… Continue reading A Waymo robotaxi was vandalized and burned in San Francisco
California regulator looking into Waymo’s collision with a cyclist
California’s auto regulator, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), is investigating an incident that occurred on Tuesday, where a driverless Waymo car collided with a cyclist, according to a report by Reuters. San Francisco cops said that the cyclist suffered non-fatal injuries, as per a report by SFGate. Waymo, which is owned by Google’s parent company… Continue reading California regulator looking into Waymo’s collision with a cyclist
Autonomous vehicle company Motional is about to lose a key backer
Autonomous vehicle company Motional is losing capital support from one of its primary backers as it aims to commercialize a robotaxi service in 2024. Automotive supplier Aptiv — the other half of a $4 billion joint venture with Hyundai that created Motional — said Wednesday it will no longer allocate capital toward the endeavor. “While… Continue reading Autonomous vehicle company Motional is about to lose a key backer
Cruise reveals DOJ, SEC probes as it releases internal report on pedestrian crash
Cruise, the GM self-driving subsidiary, said Thursday that federal prosecutors and securities regulators have opened investigations into the October 2 incident that left a pedestrian stuck under and then dragged by one of its robotaxis. The probes by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, which were revealed as part of an… Continue reading Cruise reveals DOJ, SEC probes as it releases internal report on pedestrian crash
Self-driving vehicle company Aurora cuts 3% of its workforce
Aurora Innovation, the autonomous vehicle technology company aiming to launch a “driverless” self-driving trucks business by the end of 2024, laid off dozens of workers this week, according to sources familiar with the action. The Pittsburgh-based company, which also has facilities in California, Colorado, Texas and Montana, has since confirmed that about 3% of its… Continue reading Self-driving vehicle company Aurora cuts 3% of its workforce
Bluewhite rakes in $39M for robots-as-a-service that can be retrofitted to drive any tractor
Agriculture has a long heritage of being constantly disrupted by technology, an evolution that has continued to play out until today. In one of the latest developments, an Israeli startup called Bluewhite has picked up $39 million in funding to advance its own contribution to the field: autonomous robots that can be retrofitted to any… Continue reading Bluewhite rakes in $39M for robots-as-a-service that can be retrofitted to drive any tractor