Losing traction while driving at high speed is generally very bad news. Scientists from the Toyota Research Institute and Stanford University have developed a pair of self-driving cars that use artificial intelligence to do it in a controlled fashion—a trick better known as “drifting”—to push the limits of autonomous driving. The two autonomous vehicles performed … Read more
The people of San Francisco haven’t always been kind to Waymo’s growing fleet of driverless taxis. The autonomous vehicles, which provide tens of thousands of rides each week, have been torched, stomped on, and verbally berated in recent months. Now Waymo is striking back—in the courts. This month, the Silicon Valley company filed a pair … Read more
The pay package is just one in a series of measures that shareholders have already been asked to vote on by proxy, ahead of Thursday’s meeting. Others include whether Tesla’s incorporation should move from Delaware to Texas, whether the company should soften its hardline stance on labor negotiations, and whether the company should preemptively impose … Read more
Elon Musk will be pleased that his surprise jaunt to China on Sunday garnered many glowing headlines. The trip was undoubtedly equally a surprise to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, who had been scheduled to offer Musk the red carpet on a long-arranged visit. The billionaire blew off India at the last minute, citing “very … Read more
I experienced the City NGP function under XNGP in a P7i in Shanghai, and later in a G6 in Guangzhou. With my second experience I soon realized it was a tale of two cities. In Shanghai it was quite smooth, and at least one of the interventions made was due to me being disoriented rather … Read more
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced on Tuesday that nearly all partial driving automation systems received “poor” ratings in a new ratings program designed to improve safety on the road. The IIHS, an auto safety group, released the results of the first round of testing from its new ratings program. Of the 14 … Read more
A proposed bill in California would require autonomous taxi companies to report extensive data on collisions and safety maneuvers or else face steep daily fines, continuing tough scrutiny on the companies. The vehicles are frequently seen blocking traffic and unable to navigate emergency vehicles in San Francisco, raising safety concerns among Bay Area residents and politicians. The … Read more
A small handful of people in the world of motorsports might find reason to care about the concept of autonomous racing. In theory this could be a new opportunity for motorsport to return to its original purpose as a crucible of automotive technological improvement. In practice, it’s boring, half-assed, and deeply unimportant. This morning I … Read more
A pair of Super Bowl ads went after Tesla’s self-driving technology on Sunday, asking viewers to boycott the company and claiming that its vehicles are unsafe. The Dawn Project’s ads follow a 2023 Super Bowl ad campaign, which featured an Autopilot-driven Tesla mowing down child-sized dummies in a parking lot. “Here’s what Elon Musk doesn’t … Read more
Cruise, General Motors’ self-driving development subsidiary, will lay off almost a quarter of its workforce—about 900 employees—the company announced Thursday. The cuts are part of a broader restructuring to focus the robotaxi unit on a narrower path to commercialization. Instead of expanding its commercial robotaxi service to multiple US cities, the company will relaunch its … Read more
