Driverless cars

Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi debuted the DiDi Neuron, a concept robotaxi. It has an arm in the back to pick up luggage or wake up sleeping passengers. DiDi is working with Chinese carmakers to develop its own autonomous taxis which it is aiming to put into service in 2025.DiDi GlobalDiDi Global on Thursday said it is developing its own self-driving taxis alongside Chinese carmakers and it plans to roll them out in 2025 on its ride-hailing service.The Chinese giant's autonomous driving unit also showed off a concept…

Chinese search engine giant Baidu said on Friday it had won a permit to provide a fully driverless ride-hailing service in the Chinese capital of Beijing.With the permit, Baidu's Apollo service will deploy 10 fully autonomous vehicles in a technology park developed by the government of Beijing, it said in a statement.The permit marks a step forward from December, when Baidu said it had been granted a license to test the service. Baidu will now operate driverless robotaxi services in three Chinese cities including Wuhan…

From "intelligent" vacuum cleaners and driverless cars to advanced techniques for diagnosing diseases, artificial intelligence has burrowed its way into every arena of modern life.Its promoters reckon it is revolutionising human experience, but critics stress that the technology risks putting machines in charge of life-changing decisions.Regulators in Europe and North America are worried.The European Union is likely to pass legislation next year -- the AI Act -- aimed at reining in the age of the algorithm.The United…

Kodiak Robotics truck in front of an IKEA store.Source: Kodiak RoboticsSelf-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics said Tuesday that it won a two-year, $49.9 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense to help develop automated combat vehicles for the U.S. Army.The company said the vehicles will be tailored for reconnaissance, surveillance and other missions that would present a high risk to a human driver.The contract was awarded by the DoD's Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and is part of the Army's ongoing Robotic…

Nio is trying to stand out from a wave of Chinese electric vehicle competitors through its technology. The company is hoping its partnership with Tencent can help it boost its tech prowess in areas from mapping to autonomous driving.Anadolu Agency | Getty ImagesChinese electric vehicle maker Nio and tech giant Tencent agreed to work together on areas including autonomous driving and high-definition mapping.Tencent — a gaming, social media and cloud computing titan — has signed a cooperation agreement with Nio, one of…

BlackBerry was once at the top of the smartphone market in the U.S. In 2010, almost half of smartphone subscribers in the U.S. used BlackBerrys, according to Comscore. The phones were well-known for having a tactile keyboard and for BlackBerry's advanced cybersecurity — often favored among businesses and governments.But after its phones fell out of favor with users, BlackBerry altered its course, taking some of the cornerstones of the business with it."After a few years, we realized that we would never get the volume up —…

TuSimple, partly owned by UPS, makes self-driving trucks, a technology that may be among the innovations to help lower longer-run inflation in the transport sector.Source: TuSimpleSelf-driving truck startup TuSimple has fired its CEO, Xiaodi Hou, after an internal investigation found improper dealings and possible tech transfer to a Chinese firm led by TuSimple's now-departed co-founder, the company said Monday. The San Diego-based startup's operations chief, Ersin Yumer, will serve as interim CEO and president while…

The adventure part, he thinks, explains why electrics ultimately fell away. Because electric engines were expensive to produce, a coalition called the Electric Vehicle Company formed to lease them to operators, as taxis, or perhaps rent them, à la Zipcar. The business was profitable, but, in the style of Uber, the company decided that it was vulnerable to competition unless it could take over the whole country at once. That expansion attempt set off alarms about monopoly, and, after reporters found one of the company’s…

Xpeng showed off its forthcoming G9 SUV at the Chengdu auto show in August 2022.China News Service | China News Service | Getty ImagesChinese electric carmaker Xpeng on Monday revealed its most advanced semi-autonomous driving system as it looks to boost appeal for its vehicles amid rising competition.Xpeng took the wraps off XNGP, its latest advanced driver-assistance system, or ADAS. The software enables the car to carry out some driving functions automatically but requires a driver behind the wheel.XNGP replaces…

GMC vehicles sit on display at the Sterling McCall Buick GMC dealership on February 02, 2022 in Houston, Texas.Brandon Bell | Getty ImagesA key ETF for electric and autonomous vehicle stocks suffered an ugly month in September, falling nearly 15% amid fears a recession could slow revenue for the automakers. The Global X Autonomous and Electric Vehicles ETF closed on Friday at about $20, more than 37% off the group's 52-week high. It was the second worst-performing month for the group on a percentage basis on record,…