The Station: Cruise cuts, Waymo snags more cash and a VC Mobility survey – TechCrunch

The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive it every Saturday in your inbox. Hi and welcome back to The Station. I’m your host Kirsten Korosec, senior transportation reporter at TechCrunch. If you’re interested in all the future and present ways people… Continue reading The Station: Cruise cuts, Waymo snags more cash and a VC Mobility survey – TechCrunch

IIHS study finds self-driving cars may only avoid a third of crashes

Sponsored Links Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images Self-driving cars are theoretically ideal for safety. Take human limitations out of the mix and no one gets hurt, right? Not necessarily. A new IIHS study (via Autoblog) suggests that completely switching to autonomous technology would only prevent about a third of crashes if the systems “drive… Continue reading IIHS study finds self-driving cars may only avoid a third of crashes

Bird shuts down Circ operations in Middle East, scraps as many as 10,000 scooters

Bird has shut down scooter sharing in several cities in the Middle East, an operation that was managed by Circ, the micromobility startup it acquired in January. About 100 Circ employees have been laid off and as many as 10,000 Circ scooters have been sent to a third-party UAE-based company for recycling, according to multiple… Continue reading Bird shuts down Circ operations in Middle East, scraps as many as 10,000 scooters

Toro Raises $4M in Seed Financing

Toro, a San Francisco, CA-based data quality monitoring solution provider, raised $4m in seed funding. The round was co-led by Costanoa Ventures and Point72 Ventures with participation from other backers, including former Head of Data at Uber, Jai Ranganathan, and head of machine learning platform for Uber’s self-driving arm, Yu Guo. The company plans to… Continue reading Toro Raises $4M in Seed Financing

Chilean regulator approves Uber’s purchase of Cornershop: statement

FILE PHOTO: The Uber logo is displayed on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken November 25, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay/Illustration SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Chile’s antitrust regulator said on Friday it had approved “without conditions” Uber’s purchase of Chilean online grocery provider Cornershop, clearing a key hurtle for the ride-hailing company as it seeks to… Continue reading Chilean regulator approves Uber’s purchase of Cornershop: statement

@Toyota: Toyota Research Institute Launches Machine Assisted Cognition Programme

Machines can help Toyota make ever-better cars, but they could also have the potential to help people make better decisions. The Toyota Research Institute (TRI) is expanding its work with the launch of Machine Assisted Cognition (MAC), an initiative aimed at developing and demonstrating artificial intelligence tools that can understand and predict the way humans… Continue reading @Toyota: Toyota Research Institute Launches Machine Assisted Cognition Programme

SoftBank leads $500m funding in Chinese ride-hailer Didi

HONG KONG/TOKYO China’s largest ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing has raised $500 million for its autonomous driving subsidiary in a funding round led by SoftBank. The investment, the largest single funding round in China’s autonomous driving sector, marks Didi’s growing ambition in developing its own self-driving fleets as competition heats up and more companies begin launching… Continue reading SoftBank leads $500m funding in Chinese ride-hailer Didi

Uber UK launches Work Hub for drivers to find other gig jobs during COVID-19

Uber U.K. has launched a Work Hub for drivers to view a selection of temporary work opportunities with other companies as a way to supplement pandemic-hit ride-hailing earnings during the coronavirus crisis. The Work Hub sits within the Uber driver app and displays offers of work from third party providers — including jobs that involve… Continue reading Uber UK launches Work Hub for drivers to find other gig jobs during COVID-19

SoftBank led $500M investment in Didi in China’s biggest autonomous driving round

The race to automate vehicles on China’s roads is heating up. Didi, the Uber of China, announced on Friday an outsized investment of over $500 million in its freshly minted autonomous driving subsidiary. Leading the round — the single largest fundraising round in China’s autonomous driving sector — is its existing investor Softbank, the Japanese… Continue reading SoftBank led $500M investment in Didi in China’s biggest autonomous driving round

SoftBank leads $500 million fundraising for Didi’s self-driving unit

FILE PHOTO: Logo of Didi Chuxing is seen at its headquarters building in Beijing, China August 28, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s Didi Chuxing said on Friday it had completed a fundraising round of over $500 million for its autonomous driving subsidiary that was led by SoftBank Group’s (9984.T) Vision Fund 2. The… Continue reading SoftBank leads $500 million fundraising for Didi’s self-driving unit