autonomous vehicles

Former TuSimple co-founder urges courts to block asset transfer to China

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Xiaodi Hou, the co-founder and former CEO of self-driving trucking startup TuSimple, has urged a California district court to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the company from transferring its remaining U.S. assets to China, according to a recent court filing. Hou, who plans to apply for a temporary restraining order in December during […]

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GM’s Cruise to pay $500,000 fine to DOJ, admits submitting false report

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Cruise, the autonomous vehicle unit of General Motors, has admitted to submitting a false report with the goal of influencing a federal investigation into a safety incident last year. In penance, the company will pay a $500,000 criminal fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement, per the Department of Justice (DOJ).  This is one

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Chinese autonomous driving startup Pony AI seeks up to $224M in US IPO

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Pony AI is inching closer to its initial public offering in the U.S., but as it does so, it continues to drop its minimum target for what it hopes to raise in the transaction.   Pony operates a fleet of 190 “robotrucks” in Beijing and Guangzhou and over 250 robotaxis in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Shanghai.

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Vecna Robotics raises $14.5M and taps former Motional CEO to lead startup

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Karl Iagnemma, an early pioneer in the autonomous vehicle industry who recently stepped down as president and CEO from Hyundai-backed Motional, is back in the AV and robotics game. Vecna Robotics, a Massachusetts-based startup that uses robots to handle materials in warehouses, has hired Iagnemma as CEO. The robotics startup, which has developed autonomous pallet

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Zoox rolls outs custom robotaxi in San Francisco, Las Vegas

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Zoox is testing its custom robotaxis, which are built without a steering wheel or pedals, on public roads in San Francisco and the Las Vegas Strip.  The rollout of the autonomous vehicles, which Zoox CTO Jesse Levinson first announced at TechCrunch Disrupt, is a public show of force from the Amazon-backed company. Federal regulations prohibit

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Monarch Tractor lays off 10% in restructuring towards software and licensing AV tech

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Monarch Tractor has laid off around 10% of its workforce as part of a restructuring that will see it prioritize non-agricultural customers, license its autonomous technology, and boost sales of its AI-powered farm management software, TechCrunch has learned. Around 35 employees were cut this week by the Livermore, California-based autonomous electric tractor startup that has

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Lyft partners with May Mobility, Mobileye to bring autonomous vehicles to the app

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It seems Lyft is hoping to catch up to Uber’s string of autonomous vehicle partnerships. Lyft announced Wednesday three separate partnerships — with startup May Mobility, automated driving company Mobileye and smart dashcam firm Nexar — all aimed at establishing a foothold in the emerging autonomous vehicle market. In the announcement, the ride-hailing company said

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Waymo’s latest funding round boosts it to a $45B valuation

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Waymo recently closed a $5.6 billion Series C funding round led by parent company Alphabet and joined by a who’s who of Silicon Valley venture firms. The investment boosts Waymo’s overall valuation to more than $45 billion, according to Bloomberg News. Alphabet had previously announced in July that it was pledging another $5 billion to

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‘If you actually are solving a problem, you don’t talk about any of the hype,’ investor says

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The hype is palpable: As tech folks from near and far converge for TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 in San Fransisco — one of the only places where Waymo is available to the public — there’s ample chatter about the autonomous vehicle service. “If you think about AI hype and all, everyone gets excited about what 10

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Zoox custom robotaxis are finally coming to San Francisco and Las Vegas

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Amazon-owned AV company Zoox will start rolling out dozens of its purpose-built autonomous vehicle in San Francisco and in Las Vegas in the coming weeks, co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson announced on the TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 stage. Levinson said that Zoox will start offering rides — starting with employees — in the SoMa neighborhood of

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