The largest windfalls from autonomous services won’t come from making driverless cars or advertising in them. Look instead to what Google does best when disrupting and democratizing technology.
All Waymo services, including rides with trained drivers and fully-autonomous operations, will be suspended until April 7.
Penske’s Bill Combs and Waymo’s Charlie Jatt believe the trucking industry can reap the benefits before achieving Level 5 autonomy through repositioning warehouses that are optimized for AVs, employing tele-operations, and adapting automated safety technologies available now.
UPS and Waymo will explore how autonomous ground vehicles improve customer service and network efficiency with a goal of jointly developing a long-term plan for how the companies can work together.
Waymo has begun carrying out interstate mapping operations by a fleet of minivans in New Mexico and Texas – a move that is seen by many tech observers as a prelude to long-haul evaluation runs of tractor-trailers under autonomous control.
The venture will focus on creating more ways for Angelenos to get around — by bringing stakeholders to the table to develop new ideas, safely testing them on L.A.’s streets, and rolling them out in close partnership with local communities.
Customers who are matched with a self-driving car will be informed within the app of what to expect, and will be able to contact Waymo service with any questions.
The startup, which has secured a license to deploy its autonomous ride-hailing service at The Villages in Fla., says retirement communities might be the only places to support autonomy for some time.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced 33 charges of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets against ex-Google engineer and Pronto AI founder Anthony Levandowski.
The company has been permitted to take part in the state’s autonomous vehicle passenger service pilot program, along with Zoox, AutoX, and Pony.ai.