Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
The news media has expended considerable effort researching and publishing information about the robotaxi business. This channel highlights some of the important articles.
Article on food delivery robots based on FOIA info. Key issue is how the publicity has been so carefully stage managed by the robot companies.
See full original article by Pete Bigelow at Automotive News. Cruise-related headwinds dampened the autonomous outlook in some quarters, but trucks may keep on rolling. LAS VEGAS — Self-driving vehicles and advances in automated-driving technology have been a CES staple since Audi drove an A7 autonomously from San Francisco to…
See full original article in the SF Standard by Kevin Truong. Editors note: the text of SB-915 has some very good specific language: Cruise likely does not currently have the ability to fight against this legislation. As robotaxi companies Waymo and Cruise expanded their services across San Francisco last year, one of the…
See full original article in the SF Chronicle by Ricardo Cano Autonomous ride-hailing in San Francisco surged dramatically last year after state regulators granted Cruise and Waymo’s unrestricted expansion in the city as more people tried riding in self-driving cars, most of them gravitating toward Waymo taxis. Waymo accounted for more than 80% of the…
A truly informative and fun video on the complexities and problems of personal autonomous vehicles, with an emphasis on Tesla FSD.
Article in SF Standard by Joshua Bote. Covers how robotaxis currently immune to traffic tickets, like red light running, but how state legislator Phil Ting is looking at fixing that loophole.
Article in Reuters by David Shepardson. Covers how Cruise is offering to settle for lying to the CPUC for $75k, when they are actually liable for $1.5m.
Article in Bloomberg on Tesla’s large recall in China due to problems with “AutoPilot”.
See full original article by Brad Templeton at Forbes. In the wake of the recent tumultuous period for General Motors’ Cruise robotaxi unit, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeieg recently declared, “We’re going to do everything we can with the authorities we do have, which are not trivial,” to ensure self-driving vehicles…
Article from NPR.org by Dara Kerr on what a horrible, and self inflicted year, 2023 was for Cruise. Also covers how the problems of Cruise might also effect Waymo.
Article from NBC News by Bigad Shaban and Michael Bott. Covers how robotaxis do indeed sometimes violate traffic laws, but how in California they cannot be ticketed. Also covers safety in general.
Article from TechCrunch by Rita Liao. Losses push China's self-driving upstarts to seek new revenue streams.
Article from the SF Standard by Joshua Bote. Reviews the high and low points of what happened to Cruise in 2023, and speculates on what might happen to them in the future.
Article from Forbes by Brad Templeton. A very in depth review of what happened in 2023 with respect to robotaxis, with a concentration on the problems of Cruise. Includes ideas on what might happen in the future.
Article from SF Examiner by Greg Wong on what a crazy and busy year it was for Cruise and Waymo. A very useful and complete timeline of what happened during 2023, and when.
