Driven by Waymo, Designed with Trust

By: Ryan Powell, Head of UX Research & Design We’ve had members of the public riding in our fully self-driving vehicles for over two years, first as part of our early rider program and more recently through our Waymo One commercial ride-hailing service. Now, we have over a thousand riders in Waymo One, some who… Continue reading Driven by Waymo, Designed with Trust

Anthony Levandowski, former Google engineer at center of Waymo-Uber case, charged with stealing trade secrets

Anthony Levandowski, the former Google engineer and serial entrepreneur who was at the center of a trade secrets lawsuit between Uber and Waymo, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on theft of trade secrets. The indictment, which is posted below, charges Levandowski with 33 counts of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets… Continue reading Anthony Levandowski, former Google engineer at center of Waymo-Uber case, charged with stealing trade secrets

Toyota and Pony.ai

The Japanese manufacturer Toyota and the Chinese startup Pony.ai are working together. The startup Pony.ai was founded in 2016 and has had some success last year. They started the first robot taxi service in China, they test in Peking and you have your own fleet elevated. This year you got one license for the operation… Continue reading Toyota and Pony.ai

Waymo’s robot taxi service is improving, but riders still have complaints

Waymo is operating its self-driving ride-hailing service in two cities: Phoenix, with some paying customers and some riding for free, and San Francisco and the surrounding towns, with just employees as passengers. A majority of riders leave positive feedback about their experiences riding in Waymo’s robot taxis, but there are still some notable complaints, according… Continue reading Waymo’s robot taxi service is improving, but riders still have complaints

Watch a Waymo self-driving car test its sensors in a haboob

Waymo, the self-driving car company under Alphabet, has been testing in the suburbs of Phoenix for several years now. And while the sunny metropolis might seem like the ideal and easiest location to test autonomous vehicle technology, there are times when the desert becomes a dangerous place for any driver — human or computer. The… Continue reading Watch a Waymo self-driving car test its sensors in a haboob

Waymo and the Weather

By: Debbie Hersman, Chief Safety Officer My father-in-law was responsible for teaching all of his kids to drive. During the winter, he would ask, “How do we drive on the ice?” And everyone responded in unison, “We don’t!” Challenging weather conditions, which affect human driver and vehicle performance, are one of the leading contributors to… Continue reading Waymo and the Weather

Self-Driving Car Companies Depend on Cheap Labor From Venezuela

Data Farm In order to teach a car to drive itself, its artificial intelligence needs to be presented with thousands of examples of things it might encounter on the road: pedestrians about to cross a street, for instance, or specific street signs. Now, with economic turmoil in Venezuela that left many impoverished, companies that gather… Continue reading Self-Driving Car Companies Depend on Cheap Labor From Venezuela

On-demand parking startup SpotHero raises $50 million

SpotHero, the Chicago-based company that has developed an on-demand parking app, has raised $50 million in a Series D round led by Macquarie Capital. Union Grove Venture Partners participated in the round, along with existing investors including Insight Venture Partners, Global Founders Capital, OCA Ventures, AutoTech Ventures and others, according to the company. SpotHero has… Continue reading On-demand parking startup SpotHero raises $50 million

Porsche invests in ‘low visibility’ sensor startup TriEye

Porsche’s venture arm has acquired a minority stake in TriEye, an Israeli startup that’s working on a sensor technology to help vehicle driver-assistance and self-driving systems see better in poor weather conditions like dust, fog and rain. The strategic investment is part of a Series A financing round that has been expanded to $19 million.… Continue reading Porsche invests in ‘low visibility’ sensor startup TriEye