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Waymo teaches its autonomous cars to detect emergency vehicles
Before self-driving cars can truly take over our roads, they have to be able to give way to ambulances and other emergency vehicles. That's why Waymo has begun training its autonomous Chrysler minivans to be able to recognize what they look and sound like in real life situations. Alphabet's autonomous vehicle spinoff has teamed up with Chandler Police and Fire in Arizona to set up an "emergency vehicle testing day." The authorities had ambulances, police cars, motorcycles and firetrucks pass by, trail and lead the Chryslers all day and night while the minivans' sensors collected as much data as possible from all speeds, distances and angles.
Alphabet drops all but one patent claim in its case against Uber (updated)
Alphabet's autonomous-car business, Waymo, has streamlined its lawsuit against Uber, dropping three claims of patent infringement entirely and focusing on a single case of alleged patent theft.
Uber sought a Google partnership before they became bitter rivals
New court filings in the Waymo v. Uber lawsuit document the breakdown between the two companies' cooperation and potential partnership. The filings contain a series of emails between former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Google senior VP David Drummond, who at the time was also an Uber board member. The exchange, which happened in early 2015, show Kalanick becoming increasingly concerned over rumors that Google was looking to start its own ride-sharing service with the self-driving cars it was developing. From the emails, it appears that Uber was looking to partner with Google in its autonomous vehicle efforts and Kalanick, worried about the rumors, repeatedly sought a meeting with Alphabet CEO Larry Page.
Einride's self-driving truck looks like a giant freezer on wheels
Einride has just revealed the prototype of the T-pod, its autonomous electric truck. The Swedish company's self-driving vehicle can transport 15 standard pallets and can travel 124 miles on one charge. And because there's no need for a person to sit inside of it, the T-pod also has no cab space and no windows -- giving it a very futuristically odd look.
Despite internal struggle, Uber is still a very popular service
It's no secret that Uber is a bit of a mess right now and the subject of a number of different scandals. The company is recently CEO-less (and remains COO-, CFO-, and general counsel-less as well). It has lost a board member and fired 20 employees because of sexist comments and sexual harassment. And the company has been hit with a slew of lawsuits for allegedly discriminating against people with disabilities, for obtaining and sharing a rape victim's medical records and of course for the alleged theft of Waymo's self-driving technology. But amid all of the disasters, Uber has hit a major milestone -- it reached the five billion trip mark.
Waymo’s self-driving van is headed to Death Valley
Among the challenges that come with making self-driving cars road-ready, is making sure they can withstand extreme weather. They won't be much use if they can only operate in pristine conditions. In that regard, Alphabet's self-driving outfit Waymo has been taking its cars on road trips so they can be tested in some actual weather and not just in mild Mountain View.
Waymo bids its self-driving bubble cars farewell
Say goodbye to Waymo's quirky bubble-shaped autonomous cars. Google's former self-driving car division is retiring its fleet of "Fireflies" -- also known as "koalas" and "gumdrops," among many other nicknames -- to focus on integrating its technology into more traditional vehicles. It particularly aims to give more people access to its self-driving technology through a fleet of 600 Chrysler Pacifica minivans, which the team has equipped with its latest custom-built radar, LiDAR and vision systems. The minivans also come with Waymo's newest AI platform that can see farther and more clearly. Plus, they run like normal vehicles do, unlike the Fireflies which are limited to 25mph.
iOS 11 brings a series of car safety features
Using your phone while driving is incredibly dangerous. But for a lot of us, it's tough to ignore all those notifications when we should be paying attention to the road. So Apple has created a new feature for the upcoming iOS 11, aptly titled "Do Not Disturb While Driving."
Waymo will battle Uber with its own self-driving trucks
Google was one of the first companies to show off self-driving car tech, but it's pretty late into the autonomous truck game. Well after companies like Daimler, Komatsu and Uber unveiled their own platforms, Waymo has started testing a single truck on public roads, it told Buzzfeed and Reuters. "Self-driving technology can transport people and things much more safely than we do today and reduce the thousands of trucking-related deaths each year," it said in a statement.
Uber fires self-driving lead and focus of Waymo lawsuit
Uber has taken a stand in the current legal wrangling around its vice president of technology, Anthony Levandowski. According to The New York Times, the ride-sharing company has fired the former Google employee who came to Uber's own self-driving automobile division. Google sued Uber recently, claiming that Mr. Levandowski allegedly took some 14,000 documents containing research on LiDAR and other autonomous driving technology when he left Waymo.
Recommended Reading: Inside Apple's new spaceship campus
One More Thing Steven Levy, Wired Apple's so-called spaceship campus, or Apple Park, has been in the works for a while now, but this week Wired gave us a big update on the progress. The obsessive attention to detail, tunnel entry, modular "pod" sections for employees and more are all detailed here. Like any other Apple product, the company is using a keen eye when designing it's biggest project thus far.
Former Google worker barred from Uber’s self-driving division by court (updated)
A judge has ruled that Uber can keep working on its autonomous vehicles with one key condition: autonomous vehicle lead Anthony Levandowski must be removed from any of Uber's LiDAR-based efforts. Prior to joining Uber, Levandowski worked for Google's Waymo division and allegedly took some 14,000 documents pertaining to LiDAR and other self-driving tech on his way out the door. He's still employed by Uber according to TechCrunch, and has voluntarily removed himself from the autonomous division as of late last month.
Lyft and Waymo work together on self-driving cars
Waymo just got a ton of help in its bid to make self-driving cars a common sight on public roads. The Alphabet-owned company and Lyft have forged a deal that will see the two work together on self-driving cars, both for development and for test projects. The exact terms aren't clear, but both have strong incentives to team up. Waymo tells the New York Times that it's about helping autonomous tech "reach more people, in more places." For Lyft, meanwhile, it's about getting access to the "best self-driving technology" and speeding up its plans for autonomous ridesharing.
Judge sends Uber/Waymo case to DOJ for investigation
In the latest bad news for Uber, the judge presiding over its trade secrets lawsuit with Google self-driving car unit Waymo has asked federal prosecutors to investigate the case. Reuters and Bloomberg report that US District Judge William Alsup said he is not taking a position on whether or not charges are warranted, but this is the second investigation into Uber, along with an inquiry into its "greyballing" scheme. At the same time, he denied a request by Uber to take the case to private arbitration, opting to keep things in the public eye, and also partially granted Waymo's request for an injunction.
Google says Uber created a fake company to steal its secrets
Uber is having a bad year, for sure. In February, Google's parent company Alphabet sued Uber, claiming that it stole proprietary self-driving car technology from Google's Waymo project. The plaintiff's lawyers also claim that the original LLC, Ottomotto, was created as a diversionary tactic and that Uber and Otto executives planned to acquire the company all along. In a court hearing today, Waymo lawyers referenced stock awards, timelines and emails to support their claims. The current details revolve around Anthony Levandowski, the former Waymo executive who founded Otto and is now working at Uber.
Uber self-driving lead steps aside due to Waymo's lawsuit
While Waymo -- the company formerly known as Google's self-driving car project -- continues to sue Uber over stolen trade secrets, the former employee at the center of its charges will "be recused from all LiDAR-related work and management." Levandowski left last year to found a self-driving truck company called Otto, which was then purchased by Uber in an arrangement that Waymo lawyers claim was planned as a way to steal thousands of pages of confidential materials. Now Business Insider has obtained an internal memo where he tells employees they'll be reporting to someone else for the duration of the lawsuit.
Waymo is ready to offer public rides in its self-driving minivans
While Alphabet's legal battle with Uber continues to rumble on, its Waymo self-driving initiative is going from strength to strength. Its laser-mounted white minivans are consistently proving their reliability on the roads and besting their rivals, so much so that the company now wants humans to get involved. In a blog post, the company today announced that it's expanding its test program in Phoenix by allowing families to register for its early rider program.
Waymo says Uber hid a LiDAR device based on its technology
The legal battle Waymo waged against Uber is getting more and more intense, and the Alphabet-owned division is showing no signs of slowing down. It has just accused the ride-hailing company of covering up a trade secret theft in a new set of court of documents. Waymo says Uber hid a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) device -- the system that serves as self-driving cars' "eyes" -- that former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski developed based on its technology. If you'll recall, Waymo filed the lawsuit after another one of its engineers revealed that Levandowski downloaded 9.7 GB of confidential materials related to its self-driving system before leaving company. He then established Otto, the autonomous truck company that Uber ended up acquiring for its own self-driving ambitions.
The promise of self-driving cars starts with better 'eye-sight'
San Francisco's Pier 35 usually hosts cruise ship guests boarding and unboarding their giant floating hotels. It's a cavernous building hundreds of meters long which actually makes it the perfect indoor facility for demoing what 22 year-old Luminar CEO Austin Russell hopes is the future of LiDAR. The company has developed a higher-quality laser sensor that just might make it the darling of the autonomous car world.
Uber's legal defense: Waymo does LiDAR better, for now
Uber has finally responded via the courts to Waymo's allegation that it's using the Alphabet company's Lidar technology. The ride-hailing company called Waymo's injunction motion to stop using technology that was allegedly misappropriated from Google servers a "misfire." It also insisted that because it's developing multi-lens LiDAR technology instead of the single-lens that Waymo uses, it's not using stolen technology.
