Waymo under investigation after reports of AV crashes and ‘traffic violations’
The US government’s highway safety agency (NHTSA) has opened another investigation of automated driving systems, this time into crashes involving Waymo’s self-driving vehicles. NHTSA posted documents detailing the probe on its website yesterday after getting 22 reports of Waymo vehicles either crashing or doing something that may have violated traffic laws. In the past month, the agency […]
Cruise return to the streets for the first time since ‘pedestrian-dragging’ incident
Cruise’s autonomous vehicles are officially back on the road and driving autonomously for the first time since one of its driverless vehicles dragged a pedestrian over 20 feet in San Francisco. Cruise said last month that it would resume testing with manually driven vehicles focused on mapping and gathering road information — minor tasks for a company with as […]
Wayve: Nvidia backs UK self-driving start-up in US$1 billion funding round
Nvidia is investing in Wayve Technologies, joining a US$1.05 billion funding round for the UK start-up that wants to get its autonomous-driving technology into cars. The fundraising – one of the largest ever for a European artificial intelligence company – was led by SoftBank Group, with existing investor Microsoft putting in further funds. The valuation […]
Autonomous taxis: ‘Mixed Messages’ on US$470bn Market Readiness
Over the last three to four years, the driverless robotaxi industry has begun to flourish. Driverless services are coming online in multiple cities across the US and China. IDTechEx‘s recent report, “Future Automotive Technologies 2024-2034: Applications, Megatrends, Forecasts“, predicts that the driverless robotaxi industry will be generating over US$470 billion annually through services in 2034. This […]
Green light for a fourth, white light
The world of research into autonomous vehicles has thrown up a fascinating new approach to traffic management with a “white light” being proposed to reduce congestion, according to Cosmos magazine. A modelling study conducted by the North Carolina State University (NCSU) was based on how autonomous vehicles (AVs) could communicate with each other. The researchers believe that adding a […]
Cruise issues statement after October accident
The leadership team of autonomous robotaxi firm Cruise has posted an update on X, following the involvement of one of their vehicles in a serious accident in October. The GM-funded company had a licence to carry passengers without human drivers throughout the city of San Francisco. Cruise, which has reportedly lost up to $6 billion […]
VW to bring autonomous driving to “large-scale production”
VW has become the first vehicle manufacturer to develop a Level 4 autonomous driving (AD) service vehicle for large-scale production. The German automaker is ramping up the AD technology for the VW ID. Buzz AD with tech company Mobileye, reports Electrek, following an extensive pilot phase in the US and Germany. Christian Senger, a management board member […]
SMMT warns of ramifications if autonomous vehicle legislation delayed
The deployment of self-driving cars on the UK’s roads will be delayed by around four years unless legislation is passed before the next general election, the SMMT has warned. Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, said the UK can “ill afford” a hold-up in the technology being rolled out, says the Express & Star. […]
Autonomous vehicles will lead to job losses, claim Labour Party
The London Evening Standard is reporting that Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh has warned that ‘mistakes of deindustrialisation’ cannot be made with the introduction of self-driving cars. Job losses as a result of self-driving cars cannot be allowed to replicate the “ravages of deindustrialisation”, Labour have warned. During the second reading of the Automated Vehicles Bill, Transport […]
California Public Utilities Commission approves Waymo expansion plan
Waymo can expand its robotaxi service to the Peninsula and Los Angeles, state regulators said Friday. NBC Bay Area is reporting. The company’s driverless ride-hailing operations launched last year in San Francisco. “We’re grateful to the CPUC for this vote of confidence in our operations, which paves the way for the deployment of our commercial Waymo One […]
