The sun-drenched people of Phoenix can now sign up to ride in an automated car, for free, courtesy of Waymo. The Alphabet affiliate announced its "early ride program," which will (hopefully) demonstrate how self-driving cars will fit into people's everyday lives. Highlighting a challenge Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has spoken about that faces the driverless industry.
Waymo claims in court documents filed yesterday in its lawsuit against Uber that ex-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick knew that former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski was in the possession of stolen documents while employed at the troubled ride-sharing firm.
Today it was revealed that Avis Budget Group will now support and maintain Waymo's driverless car fleet in Phoenix, the company's first public trial of self-driving cars. This is an unprecedented partnership in the autonomous vehicle field and conveys the steps driverless companies are taking to make their vehicles more accessible to the public.
Waymo's hardware development team for self-driving vehicles will now be led by Satish Jeyachandran, previously director of hardware engineering at Tesla.
It has been a long road for Uber throughout the duration of its lawsuit with Waymo, especially with a judge who seemed significantly against Uber with almost every argument made. Monday's ruling was, while not necessarily a win for Uber, less punishing than many would have thought.
It's no secret Uber has had a pretty rough year, in no small part to being sued by Google. But Google doesn't seem to have intended a full lawsuit against Uber from the get-go, as news today shows Waymo pushed for arbitration against their former employee last fall, months before the news broke that they were suing Uber.
Earlier today, Alphabet announced that the Self-Driving Car Project has officially graduated from their innovation factory (X) and will now operate as an independent company called Waymo.
Waymo and Lyft have remained highly secretive about their driverless car programs, but may be forced to reveal a lot about their plans after a judge in a US federal court granted Uber's request to review documents about Waymo and Lyft's partnership.
Last week it was announced that Waymo, the former Google Self-Driving Car project, had graduated from Alphabet's X innovation center. This graduation had been in the cards for many months with senior members of the project team and X hinting that it would be soon.
Waymo revealed more clues about its future business model after it said yesterday it plans to kill its Firefly pod-like car project and focus more closely on offering driverless systems for commercially available car and truck models.
Uber and Waymo's lawsuit is starting to pan out. Following a ruling on Monday, May 15, Judge Alsup, who called Waymo's patent infringement claims "meritless," ordered Uber to perform a series of actions and duties for Waymo. Without further ado, here's what Uber must do to begin to put this lawsuit behind them (well, maybe):
In a twist in the tumultuous lawsuit between Uber and Waymo, Uber revealed today that they found a document on an employee device, allegedly stolen from Waymo.
Google's former Self-Driving Car project, now graduated from Alphabet's X division as Waymo, has found a collaborator and potential new partner in Honda. This is an interesting turn of events given traditional automakers' reluctance to work with driverless-car startups over the years.
Disengagement report numbers for self-driving car testing in 2016 on public roads in California were just released, and the biggest point we can make about them is that Waymo is very far ahead of their competitors in almost every metric.
Waymo just received approval on a patent for a push-button console that replaces not only a steering wheel in a car but the brake and gas pedals, too. This reflects Alphabet's driverless arm could remain true to its original mantra of developing cars that pilot themselves without human intervention.
Waymo's transfer of its driverless car know-how to commercial trucks will likely pose few challenges for the self-driving unit of Alphabet, which owns Google.
Waymo has done a lot of things over the course of their driverless journey, but their solution to little birdies pooping all over a self-driving car's LiDAR system is definitely our favorite.
The big Waymo versus Uber trial isn't scheduled until May, but the heat between Uber and Waymo is rising fast; Waymo wants Uber's driverless trials shut down by a court injunction, unless ex-Google employee Anthony Levandowski testifies in court.
The drama continues! In the latest installment of the feud that has rocked the driverless vehicle industry, Waymo is now accusing Uber of withholding a secret LiDAR device.
When will the drama end? The lawsuit between Waymo and Uber is back in the news with no signs of stopping. Today the court denied yet another request from Uber to shield itself with the fifth amendemnent, securing a small victory for Waymo.
There was big news today from Google, Apple, Volvo, and Nvidia regarding their self-driving efforts.
When we talk about driverless technology, the go-to companies are usually Waymo, Uber, or Tesla. However, traditional automakers like Ford and GM are also staking claims to the driverless and advanced driver assistance spaces.
Drive.ai (a startup founded by Stanford University graduates), Waymo, General Motors, and serial entrepreneur and author Vivek Wadhwa are featured in today's top news.
It wasn't too long ago that Uber threatened to fire star engineer Anthony Levandowski. Eleven days to be exact. If Levandowski didn't turn over the documentation he allegedly stole from Google's autonomous car division, Uber informed Levandowski that they would take "adverse employment action." Today, The New York Times reported the ride-sharing firm has delivered on that threat. In a memo sent to employees Tuesday morning, Uber announced Lewandowski's official departure from the company "eff...
Lately, the biggest news in driverless has been the raging lawsuit between two autonomous spearheads, Uber and Google's Waymo. A new bill back by General Motors, however, could take them both out of the race towards driverless.
Most carmakers now agree with Waymo that piloting driverless cars is best left to the machine — with no meddling from the human.
Google largely helped to pioneer the concept of a steering wheel- and pedal-free self-driving experience when it began testing its Firefly pod-like vehicles a few years ago.
Autonomous vehicles, aka self-driving cars, are not yet available to the public (at least not ones SAE Level 3 and higher). However, this doesn't make the jobs any less in demand. In fact, if you meet the right qualifications, you could make a lot of money in this industry.
Self-driving car models and fleets get most of the media attention, but it is the suppliers that design and make the technologies underpinning the driverless revolution, says Guillaume Devauchelle, the vice president of innovation and scientific development for leading tier-one supplier Valeo.
General Motors acquired Cruise Automation in March 2016 for a reported $1 billion (well, at least $581 million). GM President Dan Ammann made a point of being in the press release photograph with Cruise founders Kyle Vogt and Daniel Kan (see photo below). On January 19, 2017, Vogt posted on Twitter: "Took GM Pres. Dan Ammann for a ride in a Cruise AV."
Uber's year is going from bad to worse, and they may be subject to a potential criminal probe in the ongoing Waymo legal battle.
A federal judge wants answers after an Uber engineer accused of data theft pleaded the Fifth in the ongoing Waymo versus Uber battle. This privilege would protect the accused, Anthony Levandowski, of self-incrimination and handing over specific documents demanded in a previous subpoena and forthcoming deposition.
Uber's chance at driverless domination may be ripped away as its legal battle with Waymo escalates. The company's self-driving program is now under threat of closure if the allegations of premeditated theft are proven
Engineer Anthony Levandowski has officially been kicked off Uber's driverless program by a judge as the company's legal war with Waymo continues.
Cruise Automation follows Waymo's and Uber's lead with its debut of a beta version of an app-based driverless ride-hailing service for its employees in San Francisco, ahead of a possible launch of a full-fledged commercial offering within four years.
All the Driverless news you need to know from the past 24 hours, bundled together in a tightly written package, about Uber, London delivery services, capital investments, and kangaroos.
Lyft officially laid its stake in the ground to develop driverless fleets following its Friday announcement, but how fast it is catching up to ride-hailing competitor Uber's driverless initiative remains to be seen.
One major component of Level 4 and Level 5 driverless cars is in very short supply. Venture capitalists and engineers from around the world are racing to fill the LiDAR production, price, and performance void.
Uber's legal team may have finally sold their engineering golden boy down the river as their war with Waymo continues. Anthony Levandowski isn't your average sacrificial lamb either — given the alleged stealing and all that — but Uber seems set on distancing themselves from this whole fiasco as fast as they can.
Forget Waymo, Uber, Tesla, and other other heavily mediatized driverless contenders — German premium carmaker Audi AG has become the first OEM to introduce a Level 3 car sold in retail channels.
