Tag: Uber

Amazon just invested in self-driving car company Aurora

Leonard Ortiz | Digital First Media | Getty Images
Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, speaks to a group of Amazon employees that are veterans during an Amazon Veterans Day celebration, to honor the Warriors@Amazon, a group of employees who have served in the military and their spouses, in an event outside a hanger at the Long Beach Airport in Long Beach on Monday, November 12, 2018. The event included the unveiling Amazon's 40th airplane named Valor in honor of the group. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images)

Self-driving car startup Aurora announced on Thursday that it has raised more than $530 million in funding, from investors including Amazon, Sequoia and the investment arm of energy giant Shell.

“This funding and partnership will accelerate our mission of delivering the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly,” Aurora said. Aurora's management has a lot of experience in the automotive industry.

The company's CEO and co-founder Chris Urmson is the former CTO of self-driving cars at Alphabet, which owns the autonomous vehicle firm Waymo. Co-founder and chief product officer Sterling Anderson led the design and launch of the Tesla Model X, according to Aurora's website. Drew Bagnell, Aurora's chief technology officer and co-founder helped found Uber's Advanced Technology Center.

“We are always looking to invest in innovative, customer-obsessed companies, and Aurora is just that,” Amazon told CNBC in a statement. “Autonomous technology has the potential to help make the jobs of our employees and partners safer and more productive, whether it's in a fulfillment center or on the road, and we're excited about the possibilities.”

The Wall Street Journal said last year that Amazon has a team dedicated to building autonomous vehicle technology. Amazon also announced a partnership with Toyota last year that will help Amazon explore ways to use self-driving cars to deliver food. Earlier this week, CNBC reported that Amazon is already hauling cargo in self-driving trucks developed by Embark.

Rather than manufacturing its own vehicles, Aurora is working with incumbents like VW and Hyundai, as well as Byton in China, to develop self-driving cars. It competes with Waymo, other venture backed autonomous vehicle start-ups like Zoox, and self-driving companies that were acquired by Ford and GM, Argo.AI and Cruise, respectively.

Neither Amazon nor Aurora revealed just how much of the new funding round came from Amazon. The e-commerce titan's investment in Aurora follows its addition of risk language in its 10K filings, that Amazon views “transportation and logistics services” as competition.

Amazon's delivery costs exceeded $27 billion in 2018. Using advanced driver-assistive technology, or fully self-driving vehicles, could help it curb delivery costs.

-CNBC's Deirdre Bosa and Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.

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Amazon Echo is a key part of company's future, says NYT columnist
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Lime raises $310 million Series D round led by Bain Capital Ventures and others

Lime just announced it has raised a $310 million Series D round. Led by Bain Capital Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Fidelity Ventures, GV and IVP, the round values Lime at $2.4 billion. “This new investment demonstrates the fundamental strength of our business and the increasingly rapid adoption of Lime,” Lime CEO Toby Sun wrote in a… Continue reading Lime raises $310 million Series D round led by Bain Capital Ventures and others

Arizona Bills Look to Redefine Car Rental, Carsharing

Photo via Wars/Wikipedia.com Two competing Arizona bills are looking at how to define car rental companies in the era of peer-to-peer rentals. One bill would define peer-to-peer companies like Turo and Getaround as the same as traditional car rental companies, according to a report by the Arizona Capitol Times. The other bill from Rep. Travis Grantham refers to… Continue reading Arizona Bills Look to Redefine Car Rental, Carsharing

Tesla batteries, EPA comments, Hyundai and Kia plug-in availability: Today’s Car News

2020 Kia Soul EV
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said electric cars are “not grounds for concern” at the EPA—yet highway safety and car prices are. Tesla buys a company that builds ultracapacitors. Hyundai and Kia aim to avoid the dreaded “compliance car” label with their EV sales—barely. We investigate the hesitation. In our latest Twitter poll, readers tell us how important it is to them that their electric car be American-made. All this and more on Green Car Reports.

At a Bloomberg conference on the future of mobility in California, Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler sat down with California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols to try and iron out their differences over emissions and fuel-economy standards. Wheeler also told the Bloomberg conference, that whether cars run on electricity or some other fuel “is not grounds for concern” at the EPA. Or at least it isn't if the agency doesn't concern itself with air quality.

On Monday, Tesla bought San Diego-based ultracapacitor manufacturer Maxwell Technologies, in what looks like an effort to develop more energy-dense batteries and possibly even acquire solid-state technology.

Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia are cranking out new electric and plug-in cars right and left, with four electrics and four plug-in hybrids among their lineups. Yet the cars are not widely available and many buyers complain of not being able to get one. We look at what's going on.

In our latest Twitter poll results, our readers weigh in on how important it is to them to buy American with their next electric car, if the purchase supports building an innovative economy in the U.S.

Aston Martin's uber-exclusive luxury brand Lagonda plans to show its first electric SUV at the Geneva auto show next month.

Finally, the National Transportation Safety Board released its “most wanted” list of new laws to make roads safer. On top of the list: mandatory automatic emergency braking for cars, trucks, and RVs that will stop for motorcycles, too; and a lower 0.05 blood-alcohol threshold for drunk driving arrests.

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Uber Freight co-founders and top dealmakers join logistics startup Turvo

Last year, Charlie Bergevin and Brian Cristol, co-founders of Uber’s trucking logistics business Uber Freight, heard Reid Hoffman say Turvo had some of the best technology he had ever seen. Frustrated with the direction Uber Freight had taken, they called up Turvo’s founder and chief executive officer Eric Gilmore. It wasn’t long before offers were on… Continue reading Uber Freight co-founders and top dealmakers join logistics startup Turvo

Uber is now using boats to beat Mumbai’s terrible traffic – CNN

The ride-hailing company launched its Uber Boat service in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, on Sunday. Uber customers can now book boats between three destinations on the city’s waterfront. Rides start at 5,700 rupees ($80) for a six or eight-seater boat and go up to 9,500 rupees ($132) for larger vessels that can accommodate 10 riders.… Continue reading Uber is now using boats to beat Mumbai’s terrible traffic – CNN

SF also denies JUMP’s electric scooter appeal

A neutral hearing officer in the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has denied Uber-owned JUMP’s appeal regarding the SFMTA’s decision to not provide JUMP a permit to operate shared electric scooters in the city. “We are pleased the hearing officer validated our permitting process, which above all, prioritized the public interest,” SFMTA Communications Manager Ben… Continue reading SF also denies JUMP’s electric scooter appeal

Waymo may team up with Renault-Nissan on self-driving taxis

AP Photo/Jeff Chiu Waymo might not be done courting the automotive world after working with the likes of Fiat Chrysler and Jaguar Land Rover. Nikkei claims the Alphabet-owned company is in the “final phase” of talks to partner with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance on self-driving car services. While there aren’t too many specifics, one project would… Continue reading Waymo may team up with Renault-Nissan on self-driving taxis

Self-driving truck startup Ike raises $52 million

Ike, the autonomous trucking startup founded by veterans of Apple, Google, and Uber Advanced Technologies Group’s self-driving truck program, has raised $52 million in a Series A funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures. Redpoint Ventures, Fontinalis Partners, Basis Set Ventures, and Neo also participated in the round. Bain Capital Ventures partner Ajay Agarwal has joined… Continue reading Self-driving truck startup Ike raises $52 million