autonomous vehicle

Fully autonomous technology developer Waymo announced a new partnership with rideshare network Lyft to offer driverless robotaxi rides to customers in Nashville, Tennessee.

Bespoke robotaxi developer Zoox officially launched driverless rides around the Las Vegas Strip today. The milestone follows months of testing in the area, and the initial rides are free for the general public.

Autonomous driving technology specialist Nuro, Inc. has closed a Series E funding round totaling $203 million. Through its latest successful funding round, the company is now valued at $6 billion, and fresh investor NVIDIA joins existing tech companies like Uber.

Veteran robotaxi developer Zoox has announced an expansion of its testing fleet to a seventh US market. This latest addition marks Zoox’s (potential) entry into the southeastern United States as its team begins to map out the area ahead of bona fide autonomous robotaxi rides.

Shortly after announcing a strategic partnership with May Mobility to offer robotaxi rides to customers in the US, Uber has secured a second driverless tech company amid plans to scale the technology to new regions. Following a new partnership with Momenta, Uber will also expand robotaxi rides to Europe.

Zoox is saying, “LiDAR, camera, action!” The autonomous robotaxi developer announced an expansion into Los Angeles, marking Zoox’s sixth testing location. The initial rollout around Hollywood will be small to begin as Zoox remains “thoughtful and measured” in its rollout approach.

EV automaker ZEEKR held a live event in China today, unveiling several new forms of autonomous driving technology. The company launched a new smart driving solution called G-Pilot, which will enable Level 3 autonomous driving in one of its upcoming EV models before expanding to others.

There are still many questions surrounding the plausibility of full-fledged autonomous robotaxi operations around the world, but Waymo, one of the current leaders in the segment, is putting at least one stigma to rest. A new study conducted with the help of reinsurance provider Swiss Re used hundreds of thousands of liability claims to demonstrate that robotaxi vehicles using the Waymo Driver platform deliver significantly higher safety performance than vehicles operated by a human driver.

As promised, robotaxi developer Waymo is expanding its Waymo One service to new US cities. The latest on its service map is Miami, which will see a start of robotaxi testing operations next year before Waymo opens up public rides to all customers. ¡Hasta pronto, Miami!

Apollo Go, tech company Baidu’s autonomous robotaxi service, will reportedly expand its services to Hong Kong before the end of 2024. Hong Kong marks the next city in mainland China where Baidu’s robotaxis may be operational as the company continues to grow as the leader in autonomous public rides in the country.

Autonomous vehicle developer Nuro has announced it is significantly expanding the capabilities of its zero-occupant vehicles. Powered by the company’s AI-enabled Nuro Driver system, these Level 4 autonomous vehicles are now operational in two states, expanding in both deployment and capabilities on the road.

Autonomous robotaxi developer Zoox has shared its latest progress update, which includes expansions into its second commercial market—San Francisco. The company has begun testing its proprietary robotaxis in the region and already has some specific neighborhoods in mind where it will want to begin offering driverless rides.

Rideshare network Lyft has enlisted the help of self-driving and ADAS technology provider Mobileye to establish the widespread commercialization of autonomous vehicles to large fleet operators.

Offshore wind technology company Beam has deployed the world’s first AI-driven autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) – a breakthrough in offshore wind inspections.

Mercedes-Benz has been certified to begin testing its Level 4 autonomous driving technology in Shanghai, China. It is the first international automaker to garner approval from local regulators as the German automaker looks to set its lineup apart from stiff competition overseas.

While some self-driving tech companies are dialing back their development or scrapping certain vehicles altogether, Waymo is pushing forward thanks to the financial support of parent company Alphabet Inc. (Google), which just committed to a fresh investment totaling five billion dollars.

Renault doesn’t think fully autonomous vehicle have a place in the private vehicle market – but pulic transit? That’s a different story, and Renault is partnering with WeRide to put this Level 4 autonomous shuttle bus into production.

While many are still skeptical about the plausibility of 100% autonomous vehicles, Geely Auto is showing that its new AI digital chassis can not only safely operate on snow and ice without a driver but can also pull off fully autonomous drifting. See the EV in action in the video below.

Autonomous technology developer Zoox shared its latest milestone in a blog post today, expanding its unique driverless robotaxi operations in California and Nevada. The growth includes a broader net of available autonomous routes, longer hours in different weather conditions, and higher top speeds… all without pedals!

An autonomous Waymo car hit a cyclist in San Francisco yesterday – but luckily the cyclist had only minor injuries. Still, it’s bad news for urban cyclists, and for Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle division, which is already having a tough time shaking off all the bad buzz from the Cruise disaster.

Waymo has released a report saying that its Waymo Driver self-driving vehicles outperform human drivers significantly, leading to much fewer crashes and injuries when compared to benchmark human drivers.