All articles tagged with #autonomous cars
Waymo is launching its driverless robotaxi service in Denver next year, starting with testing vehicles on the streets to understand the local environment, amid ongoing debates about the safety and impact of autonomous vehicles.
A recent demonstration of Tesla's Full Self-Driving software in Austin, Texas, showed the vehicle repeatedly failing to properly respond to school bus signals and hitting child-sized mannequins, raising safety concerns about the readiness of fully autonomous cars for public roads. Tesla has delayed the rollout of its Cybercab and emphasized safety precautions, but critics and previous incidents highlight ongoing issues with the system.
Tesla analyst Dan Ives believes that the focus should be on delivering the Model 2 rather than the Robotaxi, stating that fully autonomous cars may not be viable until 2030. Wedbush Securities emphasizes the importance of more affordable electric vehicles in the current market, with plateauing demand and concerns about EV prices and range anxiety. Elon Musk refuted reports of shelving the $25,000 EV and announced the unveiling of the Tesla Robotaxi, which will be similar to the $25,000 EV but without a steering wheel. Musk estimated that the next-generation vehicle production would start in the second half of 2025 at Giga Texas.
Cruise, the driverless car subsidiary of General Motors, released a report stating that an adversarial approach taken by its top executives toward regulators led to the grounding of its autonomous cars nationwide. The report, compiled by a law firm, found that the executives had failed to fully explain a crash in San Francisco where a Cruise vehicle dragged a woman 20 feet, leading to a suspension of Cruise’s license to operate. The company is currently under investigation by the Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, state agencies, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warns of the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), including the development of killer robots, AI software making fatal decisions, the creation of bioweapons, malfunctions in autonomous cars, and the exacerbation of public health crises. While some experts believe that Terminator-like machines overthrowing humanity is possible in the future, others argue that the real dangers lie in AI software and its potential flaws. The government report also highlights concerns about AI's role in spreading health misinformation and aiding the circulation of killer microorganisms.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is expected to launch an in-depth investigation into Qualcomm's acquisition of Autotalks, an Israeli chipmaker specializing in auto safety. The deal involves chips for vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications, enabling cars to communicate with their surroundings. The FTC's scrutiny comes amid concerns about corporate consolidation in emerging technologies. The European Commission is also investigating the deal, as it would combine two major suppliers of V2X semiconductors in the European Economic Area. The acquisition has faced opposition from anonymous complainants, including chipmaker MediaTek. Critics worry that Qualcomm's dominance in the V2X market could lead to higher prices, reduced quality, and less innovation in traffic-safety systems for vehicles.
A group in San Francisco called the Safe Street Rebels is placing traffic cones on Waymo and Cruise autonomous cars to disable them, as a protest against the expansion of self-driving services in the city. The group argues that residents never consented to being used as "human guinea pigs" and have concerns about pedestrian safety and the potential for traffic congestion. Waymo and Cruise have criticized the actions as vandalism and unsafe behavior, highlighting their safety records and community initiatives. The Safe Street Rebels plan to continue their protest leading up to a meeting with the California Public Utilities Commission.
A former Apple software engineer, Weibao Wang, has been charged with stealing Apple's autonomous technology for a Chinese self-driving car company. Wang worked on Apple's Annotation Team and had "broad access" to databases which could only be accessed by 2,700 of Apple's 135,000 employees. Wang has been charged with six separate counts involving the theft or attempted theft of Apple's "entire autonomy source code," tracking systems, behavior planning for autonomous systems, and descriptions of the hardware that was behind the systems.
Tesla's sales have fallen short of production for the second quarter in a row, with the company delivering 90,700 vehicles in Q2 compared to the 100,000 it had aimed for. The shortfall has been attributed to logistical issues and a drop in demand for the Model S and Model X. Meanwhile, a Tesla car in autonomous mode caused a pileup in San Francisco, raising further concerns about the safety of self-driving technology.