autonomous vehicles

Tesla designer Franz von Holzhausen says he’s been designing a robotaxi in his mind for years

About 12 years ago, not long after Tesla began delivering the Model S, chief designer Franz von Holzhausen started to think about what an autonomous vehicle might look like. Von Holzhausen played a central role at Tesla leading the design team on the Model 3 and Model Y, as well as the Tesla Semi. But

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Baidu to expand Apollo Go robotaxi service outside of China

Baidu, the Google of China, will roll out its driverless ride-hailing service overseas as it seeks to compete with the dearth of autonomous vehicle companies at home.  The Beijing-based company seeks to deploy its Apollo Go robotaxi service in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Middle East, sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street

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Uber taps Yandex spinout Avride for autonomous delivery and ride-hail partnership

Uber is not done snatching up autonomous vehicle partnerships.  The ride-hail and delivery giant on Thursday announced a multi-year deal with Yandex spinout Avride to bring the company’s sidewalk delivery robots and autonomous vehicles to both Uber Eats and Uber.  It’s the latest in a series of deals from Uber over the last two months

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Waymo begins offering robotaxi rides in Austin to certain members of the public

Waymo has gotten one step closer to a commercial launch in Austin by early 2025. This week, the company will open its fully autonomous ride-hailing service to certain members of the public in the city as it gears up to partner with Uber next year. The initial riders will have 24/7 access to the service

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Cruise gets $1.5 million penalty for keeping pedestrian crash details from safety regulator

General Motors’ self-driving subsidiary Cruise must pay a $1.5 million penalty to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, after its initial reports to the safety regulator about last year’s pedestrian crash omitted that the company’s robotaxi dragged the woman 20 feet. The penalty is part of a consent order announced by the regulator on Monday.

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A Waymo robotaxi stalled in front of VP Harris’ motorcade

A Waymo robotaxi got stuck making a U-turn in front of Vice President Kamala Harris’ motorcade Friday evening in San Francisco.  ABC 7 reported that a San Francisco police officer had to manually drive the vehicle out of the way.  Waymo has not yet responded to TechCrunch’s questions, including what went wrong on the backend

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