Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana expressed her belief that society will accept the occasional fatal crash caused by self-driving vehicles as the price of technological advancement. Mawakana says that because self-driving cars are not “perfection,” it is a matter of “when” not “if” there are fatal crashes involving robotaxis.
A driverless Waymo car was caught on camera illegally passing a school bus in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday. The autonomous vehicles are becoming notorious for erratic driving in cities where they are allowed to operate.
John Krafcik, the former CEO of Waymo who led the company’s transition from a research project to a commercial robotaxi service, has expressed his disdain for Elon Musk’s Tesla Robotaxi hype. When asked about Waymo’s rival, Krafcik said, “Please let me know when Tesla launches a robotaxi — I’m still waiting.”
Google’s Waymo plans to to explore potential expansion into Northeastern cities by beginning mapping and test drives in Philadelphia and New York City. These activities lay the groundwork for a potential robotaxi launch in the future.
Waymo revealed that it is halting service in downtown Los Angeles for its autonomous vehicles after several rioters set fire to or vandalized driverless taxis over the weekend.
Rioters are targeting Waymo autonomous vehicles in Los Angeles, with several driverless taxis set and fire or vandalized on Sunday.
Waymo’s autonomous vehicles have become the subject of online ridicule as social media users share videos documenting the cars’ bizarre behavior and frustrating experiences.
A Los Angeles-based artificial intelligence (AI) expert experienced some alarming technological problems when his driverless Waymo ride to the airport nearly caused him to miss his flight after it began driving in circles.
Los Angeles authorities arrested a man who allegedly attempted to hijack a Waymo self-driving taxi early Thursday morning, according to local reports.
As Google’s Waymo scales up its self-driving car service in San Francisco, some passengers have reported incidents of harassment and safety concerns while riding in the company’s driverless vehicles.
General Motors has announced that it will no longer fund the development of its Cruise division’s robotaxi service, citing increasing competition, capital allocation priorities, and the significant time and resources required to grow the business.
Driverless cars stationed in a San Francisco parking lot created a traffic jam at 4:00 a.m. and began honking at each other, waking up local residents. Many report the pre-dawn traffic snarl is a regular occurrence for the driverless cars.
A driverless Waymo vehicle was pulled over by police last month in Phoenix, Arizona, and the moment was caught on camera.
Google’s Waymo self-driving vehicles may be causing big problems on the roads including accidents into stationary objects and ignoring traffic signals, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Google-owned Waymo’s plans to expand its robotaxi service beyond San Francisco have hit a snag after being delayed by California regulators.
A self-driving taxi operated by Google’s Waymo was attacked and destroyed by an angry mob in San Francisco over the weekend. A furious mob used fireworks to set the vehicle on fire in a furious clash that brought together lawless California and driverless vehicles.
A Waymo self-driving car reportedly struck and injured a cyclist in San Francisco, causing minor injuries and raising concerns over safety as autonomous vehicles continue to undergo real-world testing on public roads.
The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) suspended the robotaxi permit of self-driving car company Cruise “effective immediately,” saying the General Motors-backed company’s driverless vehicles “are not safe for public operation.”
Self-driving taxis are now operational in three American cities, and are undergoing testing in more than 12 others, per a report in Axios. Meanwhile, the traffic chaos robotaxis cause in San Francisco continues to mount.
A driverless Cruise robotaxi drove into wet concrete on a construction site in San Francisco and got stuck, highlighting the problems with self-driving vehicles. One attorney for the city said, “We have seen that this technology is not yet ready, and poor AV performance has interfered with the life-saving operations of first responders.”
Robotaxi customers in San Francisco are using the driverless vehicles for “no boundaries” sex while they travel to their destinations.
Activists in San Francisco are putting orange cones on driverless vehicles, disabling them as a form of protest.
A self-driving car operated by Waymo, Google’s autonomous vehicle company, hit and killed a dog in San Francisco in a recent incident. The tech giant claims, “the system correctly identified the dog which ran out from behind a parked vehicle but was not able to avoid contact.”
A Waymo autonomous taxi caused chaos navigating a fire scene in San Francisco, exposing the challenges driverless vehicles face in reacting to unusual situations and commands from first responders. Police officers desperately worked to stop the driverless vehicle from running over a hose being used by firefighters to put out a fire. Body camera footage captured one officer explaining, “Got a bit of a pickle. I got an autonomous vehicle, the Waymo, it’s inching slowly and closely to one of the main water lines that the SF Fire just charged. Can’t run it over,” he says. “I don’t trust this AI.”
Self-driving cars have reportedly caused increased delays, confusion, and anxiety among public transit drivers as self-driving car companies plan to further expand their fleet. One city official explained, “We are very concerned that if autonomous vehicles are allowed limitless, driverless operations in San Francisco that the traffic impacts grow exponentially.”
Uber has reportedly signed a deal with Google’s self-driving car company Waymo to launch an autonomous long-haul trucking project.
A San Francisco police officer recently pulled over a car for failing to have its headlights on, but when the officer approached the vehicle he realized the car was not only a self-driving with no one in the driver’s seat — the vehicle was completely empty. The puzzled policeman can heard to say “Ain’t nobody in it; this is crazy,” in a viral video of the incident.
A California court has ruled in favor of Google’s self-driving car company Waymo allowing the company to keep its autonomous vehicle emergency protocols secret.
Google’s self-driving car company Waymo announced this week that it is working with trucking company JB Hunt to autonomously haul cargo loads in Texas. The trucks will haul loads between Houston and Fort Worth with a truck driver and Waymo technicians on board monitoring their performance.
The New York Times has outlined how Silicon Valley tech giants are beginning to “reset expectations” for the future of self-driving cars. According to the Times, only the richest companies are still working on the technology and they are expected to “still toil for years on their driverless car projects.”
A recent article published by the New Yorker asks the question many have asked about Silicon Valley’s race to develop self-driving cars: “Did Uber Steal Google’s Intellectual Property?”
Ride-sharing company Uber reportedly increased the number of self-driving car crash simulations following a fatal accident involving one of their self-driving cars that saw one woman killed.
The lawsuit between Waymo and Uber has been dismissed as the tech companies reached a surprise settlement.
A letter written by the attorney of former Uber security employee Richard Jacobs alleges that Uber took part in unethical competitive surveillance practices and spied on individuals working at competing companies.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A recent letter from the U.S. Attorney’s office confirms that the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation connected to allegations that a former Uber executive stole self-driving car technology from a Google spin-off to help the ride-hailing service build robotic vehicles.
Uber allegedly “withheld evidence” on “unlawful schemes” by encouraging its employees to use disappearing message apps.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal prosecutors are investigating allegations that Uber deployed an espionage team to plunder trade secrets from its rivals. The revelation triggered a delay in a high-profile trial over whether the beleaguered ride-hailing service stole self-driving car technology from a Google spinoff.
ATWATER, Calif. (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s self-driving car unit stopped developing features that required drivers to take control in dangerous situations, its chief executive said Monday, as autopilot reliance left users prone to distractions and ill-prepared to maneuver.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup has delayed the trial for Waymo’s lawsuit against Uber and criticised both companies’ lawyers for “suspicious” actions.
An Uber due diligence report that could prove to be damning in Waymo’s case against the company was made public Monday.