Instead of providing safety data, Waymo provides other data to get almost free labor
Waymo announces another data challenge, but still refuses to provide safety related data. And they are only paying in Google Cloud credits.
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
News
The news media has expended considerable effort researching and publishing information about the robotaxi business. This channel highlights some of the important articles.
Read MoreInstead of providing safety data, Waymo provides other data to get almost free labor
Support California bills to regulate AVs
Three additional California bills to regulate AVs have been sent to committee and need your support. This post contains simple instructions on how to send letters of support and provides templates, making it really easy for you to help.
Electrek – All Teslas in the US get a one month trial of FSD starting this week
Article from Electrek on desperation of Elon Musk in pushing Tesla Full Self Driving. Turns out Tesla will now provide FSD for a month for free. Oh, and once again, Musk describes FSD as now being "mind blowing" (though of course that might just be the Ketamine talking)
SF Gate – I learned how to trick self-driving cars at a San Francisco museum
Coning has even made it into art projects.
SPACtacular! Autonomous Vehicle companies hit by wave of financial flimflammery
Epic article on the relationship between financial dodgy SPACs and autonomous vehicle companies. Explains what SPACs are, and goes into detail on who the AV companies who used them have either already flamed out or will do so relatively soon. No SPAC AV company will be spared.
Autonomous vehicle updates and actions – March 13, 2024
Newsletter from Sue Vaughan from Burning Planet. Contains autonomous vehicle legislation updates and information on how you can provide support.
Wall Street Journal – Self-Driving Cars Enter the Next Frontier: Freeways
Article from WSJ on how Waymo will soon be expanding to driverless service on freeways in Phoenix. This is of course key for providing more lucrative airport service. But driving at freeway speeds is of course inherently more dangerous.
Tesla is in a pickle
Tesla stock price has dropped tremendously so far in 2024. But expect it to drop much further due to inherent problems Tesla is simply failing to address. And this will sure cause FSD to wither away.
RDR-LESS bikes – A startup for autonomous bicycles!
A startup for autonomous bikes - RDR-LESS! This is actually a parody video from 7 years ago. Incredibly funny.
Entrepreneur – Tesla Paid No Federal Income Taxes Over 5 Years, While Paying Top Execs $2.5 Billion, According to a New Report
Entrepreneur.com reports that Tesla paid no income tax, yet still paid their execs billions. And yet they claim that LiDAR is to expensive for autonomous vehicles.
AAA: Fear of Self-Driving Cars Persists as Industry Faces an Uncertain Future
AAA reports that 91% of surveyed drivers are skeptical overall of fully self-driving vehicles, but are very interested in advanced driver assistance systems such as emergency braking. This indicates that there is not much financial opportunity in robotaxis.
Reuters – Amazon’s Zoox robotaxis to drive faster, farther, at night in Las Vegas
Article from Reuters on how Zoox still exists, and how they are expanding their service in Las Vegas. Perhaps they should use Elon's silly tunnel.
TechCrunch – Applied Intuition lands $6B valuation for AI-powered autonomous vehicle software
Article from TechCrunch about an Autonomous Vehicle company raising a huge amount of money by jumping on the AI bandwagon. This will surely not end up well.
TechCrunch – Waymo to launch commercial robotaxi service in Austin by end of the year
Article from TechCrunch on Waymo starting service in Los Angeles this week, and in Austin by end of the year.
Forbes – Waymo Launches Its Robotaxi Service In Los Angeles
Article from Forbes on how on March 14th Waymo will launch robotaxi service in Los Angeles. Will be limited at first, but then expand. This comes at a time when other companies, in particular Cruise, are facing setbacks.
