Tesla said on its Q2 earnings call that it has built and tested a new custom chip designed specifically for Autopilot. The company says it will be the “world’s most advanced computer for autonomous driving.” Tesla owners will be able to swap Autopilot 2.0 hardware with the new computer next year. Chief Executive Elon Musk…
Uber announced Monday that it’s abandoning efforts to develop self-driving trucks. “We believe having our entire team’s energy and expertise focused on (self-driving cars) is the best path forward,” Eric Meyhofer, head of Uber Advanced Technologies Group, told Reuters. Uber’s investment in autonomous trucks included the purchase of Otto in 2016, which impressed when its…
Alphabet’s self-driving car division Waymo has struck a deal with five companies to offer transportation for their customers in the Phoenix area. “We know from our early riders that most of their rides are to run errands, shop for groceries, commute to work, head to dinner or fix their personal vehicles,” Waymo said in a…
Tesla has been coming in for some criticism of late, with particular regard to the Autopilot system. In at least three cases this year, a Tesla model has buried itself into a stopped emergency vehicle. The problem mainly stems from the fact that the engineers (of any self-driving/autonomous vehicle) have to code the system to…
The age of autonomous driving is upon us. Automakers are making the promise of self-driving cars a reality. From street ready auto-drive systems to beta-tests of fully automated vehicles, the industry is driving towards a future where humans no longer sit behind the wheel. Most players in this space are ushering in this era through…
Chinese electric car startup Byton announced Monday that it has raised an additional $500 million to advance its efforts, which include a new fully-autonomous sedan called the K-Byte. The company also officially opened its global headquarters in Nanjing, China, adding to a global presence that includes a research and development center in Silicon Valley and…
A new version of Tesla’s Autopilot software to be released in August will provide full self-driving features, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Twitter. When a Twitter follower asked about improvements to lane merging capabilities of the Tesla driver-assist system, Musk touted gains in lane-keeping for the most recent software release. Then he offered that…
Alphabet’s self-driving car unit Waymo seems pretty confident. They’re so bullish that they’ve agreed to purchase up to 62,000 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans to add to their self-driving fleet. The company said earlier this year that it intended to purchase “thousands” of vans from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), but the latest announcement is an expansion…
Jim Keller, Tesla’s VP for Autopilot Hardware, has left the company for an engineering position at Intel. “[Tuesday] is Jim Keller’s last day at Tesla, where he has overseen low-voltage hardware, Autopilot software and infotainment. Prior to joining Tesla, Jim’s core passion was microprocessor engineering and he’s now joining a company where he’ll be able…