Tag: Waymo/Google

A Former Pilot On Why Autonomous Vehicles Are So Risky

In October 2021, Missy Cummings left her engineering professorship at Duke University to join the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) in a temporary position as a senior safety advisor. It wasn’t long before Elon Musk tweeted an attack: “Objectively, her track record is extremely biased against Tesla.” He was referring to Cummings’s criticism of… Continue reading A Former Pilot On Why Autonomous Vehicles Are So Risky

My week navigating the awkward teenage years of self-driving cars

Two driverless Waymo taxis face off on a street in San Francisco before driving past each other. Photograph: Terry Chea/AP Two driverless Waymo taxis face off on a street in San Francisco before driving past each other. Photograph: Terry Chea/AP My week navigating the awkward teenage years of self-driving cars Pedestrians and human motorists in… Continue reading My week navigating the awkward teenage years of self-driving cars

Nuro lays off 30 percent of staff, shifts focus to R&D

The robot delivery startup, which raised over $2 billion, says it has enough financial runway for the next three years. Autonomous delivery startup Nuro announced this week that it’s laying off 30 percent of its workforce, or around 340 employees, as reported by TechCrunch. It will now shift its focus away from commercial operations and… Continue reading Nuro lays off 30 percent of staff, shifts focus to R&D

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

Waymo Safe Exit Features | dooring accidents

from David Fluhr · Published May 11, 2023 · Updated May 11, 2023 Waymo wants to help prevent accidents at the car door: safe exit functions. Do you really think about thinking about the traffic when you open the door? According to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, collisions with bicyclists when a car door… Continue reading Waymo Safe Exit Features | dooring accidents

All the ways Google is driving deeper into the automotive world

Google introduced Wednesday at its Google I/O 2023 event a number of new features and services designed for cars, including video conferencing, gaming and YouTube as the tech company continues its drive further into the automotive world. The company has been making inroads into automotive via two paths: Android Auto, an app that runs on… Continue reading All the ways Google is driving deeper into the automotive world

Waymo glitch caused traffic congestion in Phoenix

In April, downtown Phoenix experienced a traffic jam. The police tried to clear the stuck vehicles out of the way. But nobody was behind the wheel of the twelve cars that caused the traffic jam. The image is strongly reminiscent of the collection of autonomous cruise vehicles in San Francisco that have been driving for… Continue reading Waymo glitch caused traffic congestion in Phoenix

Waymo adds safety alerts to its robotaxis to protect exit door collisions with cyclists, other cars

Robotaxi developer Waymo is taking passenger and bystander safety to another level using the same technology that already allows its fleet of vehicles to offer autonomous rides around major metropolitan areas. Waymo has now added new audio and visual alerts to inform passengers if a cyclist or other passerby is approaching the exit door. Waymo… Continue reading Waymo adds safety alerts to its robotaxis to protect exit door collisions with cyclists, other cars

Musk: Free trial for FSD in North America

Elon Musk is beating the drum for the “Full Self-Driving” (FSD) assistant for Tesla models. FSD stands for Full Self-Driving, which it certainly isn’t. It puts the Teslas on level 2 of 5. Tesla is not the only one to reach this level. The Google sister Waymo is already circling around at level 4. The… Continue reading Musk: Free trial for FSD in North America