Riding onboard with Rivian’s race to autonomy

Riding onboard with Rivian’s race to autonomy

The robot swerved through the cafeteria of Rivian’s Palo Alto office, shelves adorned with chilled canned coffees — until it didn’t. Five minutes later, a man carefully pushed it out of everyone’s way, the words “I’m stuck” flashing yellow on the poor droid’s screen. It was an inauspicious start to Rivian’s “Autonomy & AI Day,”…

Read More
Waymo to issue software recall over how robotaxis behave around school buses

Feds ask Waymo about robotaxis repeatedly passing school buses in Austin

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has asked Waymo for more information about its self-driving system and operations following reports from the Austin School District that its robotaxis illegally passed school buses 19 times this year. In a December 3 letter sent to Waymo, regulators requested detailed information about its fifth-generation self-driving system and operations….

Read More
California’s ban on self-driving trucks could soon be over

California’s ban on self-driving trucks could soon be over

California regulators have released revised rules that would allow companies to test and eventually deploy self-driving trucks on public highways. The California Department of Motor Vehicles, the agency that regulates autonomous vehicles in the state, opened up a 15-day comment period for the proposed revisions that ends December 18. California is home to numerous companies…

Read More
Investor letter reveals skyrocketing growth of Waymo’s robotaxi rides

Waymo starts autonomous testing in Philadelphia

Waymo is adding another four cities to its growing list of robotaxi rollouts. The company announced Wednesday it has begun testing its autonomous vehicles (with a safety monitor) in Philadelphia, and that it will start manual driving to collect data in Baltimore, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh. Waymo did not offer a timeline for when it…

Read More
Behind the scenes of drone food delivery in Finland

Behind the scenes of drone food delivery in Finland

Finland’s weather is notoriously unfriendly; but even so, your food order might be delivered by a drone. On a rainy day after Helsinki’s annual Slush conference, Finnish entrepreneur Ville Leppälä took TechCrunch behind the scenes of a three-party partnership between Irish drone delivery company Manna, DoorDash-owned food delivery platform Wolt, and his own startup, Huuva….

Read More
New York state law takes aim at personalized pricing

New York state law takes aim at personalized pricing

New York’s latest state budget includes new disclosure requirements for businesses that use personal data to set different prices for different shoppers — for example, charging you more if you have a history of splurging. Businesses that use personalized pricing are now required to tell customers, “This price was set by an algorithm using your…

Read More