Driverless cars

Passengers ride in an electric Waymo full self-driving technology in Santa MonicaAllen J. Schaben | Los Angeles Times | Getty ImagesWaymo, Alphabet's self-driving car unit, is having a relatively good couple of months – at least, compared to one of its key rivals: GM's Cruise. Formerly known as the Google self-driving car project and now an independent subsidiary of Google parent-company Alphabet, Waymo has been operating in some capacity since 2009. Five years ago, the company launched what it billed as the "world's…

General Motors (GM) will slash spending in its self-driving car unit Cruise, after an accident last month seriously injured a pedestrian and prompted regulators to retract its operating permit for driverless cars in San Francisco.The company announced today that it will “substantially lower” its spending on Cruise next year, according to Mary Barra, GM’s CEO. “We expect the pace of Cruise’s expansion to be more deliberate when operations resume,” she said in a letter to shareholders.Until the accident, Cruise had been…

Cruise co-founder Daniel Kan has quit the beleaguered autonomous-car company, Reuters reported on Monday. His departure as chief product officer comes a day after Cruise co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt announced he was leaving the company that the pair set up 10 years ago. The significant upheaval follows a string of safety-related incidents involving its driverless cars on the streets of San Francisco, the same city where the General Motors-backed startup is headquartered. The most of serious of these happened in San…

Self-driving cars have flooded San Francisco streets, and many of them have no safety drivers behind the wheel.In August, two of the leading autonomous vehicle companies, General Motors-owned Cruise and Alphabet's Waymo, were granted permission to expand operations, allowing people to hail a driverless car the same way they order an Uber. Users who have been invited or granted access after signing up through a waitlist can hail robotaxis in select regions of the city for the cost of a typical rideshare.But the launch has…

Cruise General Motors-owned  Cruise has halted production of its fully driverless vehicle — the Origin — just over a week after it suspended robotaxi operations nationwide following a number of troubling incidents involving its cars. The news was announced by Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt during a meeting with staff on Monday, according to Forbes, which obtained audio of the gathering. The Origin van is a purpose-built driverless vehicle that has no steering wheel or pedals and was trumpeted as the future of Cruise’s robotaxi…

SAN FRANCISCO — Two months ago, Kyle Vogt, the CEO of Cruise, choked up as he recounted how a driver killed a 4-year-old girl in a stroller at a San Francisco intersection. “It barely made the news,” he said, pausing to collect himself. “Sorry. I get emotional.” To make streets safer, he said in an interview, cities should embrace self-driving cars like those designed by Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors. They do not get distracted, drowsy or drunk, he said, and being programmed to put safety first meant they could…

Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of Twitter, Elon Musk attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre on June 16, 2023 in Paris, France. Chesnot | Getty ImagesTesla must send extensive new records to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration as part of an Autopilot safety probe — or else face steep fines.If Tesla fails to supply the federal agency with information about its advanced driver assistance systems, which…

Uber's wide network will give Waymo, which also operates in San Francisco and is looking to expand to Los Angeles, "an opportunity to reach even more people," Waymo's co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said.Uber Technologies Inc will offer driverless cars on its ride-hailing and food delivery platform later this year through a partnership with Alphabet Inc's Waymo, the companies said.Uber customers will be able to use a set number of Waymo's driverless vehicles for rides and…

Uber will soon offer rides in Waymo’s autonomous vehicles using the regular Uber app. It will also integrate with Uber Eats for meal delivery. Announced on Tuesday, the service will begin toward the end of the year in the Metro Phoenix area, where Waymo is already offering driverless rides for paying passengers through its Waymo One app. Earlier this month, Waymo said it was doubling its service area in Phoenix to serve 180 square miles of The Valley, an expansion that it said makes it “the largest fully autonomous…

"Optimizing our costs and negotiating compensation with our customers are our main priorities on the road to our 2023 objectives," said Valeo's Chief Executive Christophe Perillat.French car parts maker Valeo SE on Tuesday reported first-quarter sales up 15% year on year, in line with expectations.The result was driven by its two main units - powertrain and driving assistance (ADAS) businesses.Valeo is betting on the acceleration of car electrification and the adoption…