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When driverless cars are attacked, who's the target?

Feb 12, 2024
Some observers think they are a proxy for Big Tech.
Robotaxis clogging traffic and being involved in high-profile accidents might stir resentment toward self-driving vehicles. But they might also be a symbol of Big Tech.
AFP via Getty Images

GM's bet on Cruise autonomous vehicles sees major roadblocks

After a traffic block and accident in San Francisco, California suspended operations of Cruise robotaxis. Now, parent company GM is scaling back.
A Cruise vehicle drives through an intersection in San Francisco on June 8.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

How rideshare drivers feel about robot competition

Aug 10, 2023
Among other issues, how does a driverless car deal with drunk passengers?
Waymo autonomous vehicles in a San Francisco parking lot. California will decide whether the company can expand operations in the city.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

University looks to self-driving shuttles to transport students

Dec 27, 2022
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is piloting autonomous transit with vehicles in a project that could take students to and from the historically Black university to downtown Greensboro by the fall.
Four shuttles that will transport students are just part of the NC Transportation Center of Excellence on Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Technology (NC-CAV) fleet.
Cole delCharco

Lyft, Uber back away from autonomous cars

May 4, 2021
Lyft announced last week it was selling its self-driving car unit to Toyota, and Uber sold its self-driving business in December.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Why self-driving cars are designed to look like overgrown toys

Mar 9, 2021
To make customers comfortable with mobile robots, companies are designing in approachability and familiarity.
This Nuro vehicle is built to transport packages, not people.
Nuro

How electric cars sparked GM's exodus from Australia, New Zealand and Thailand

Feb 17, 2020
It's part of a larger strategy to exit unprofitable markets.
A sign is viewed at the General Motors Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly as they announced the closing of multiple facilities including this one on November 26, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan.
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Self-driving big-rigs could be coming to a freeway near you

Oct 25, 2019
It might sound terrifying, but autonomous semis are an easier engineering challenge than cars.
Waymo, one of the biggest names in self-driving cars, is getting into trucking.
Jack Stewart/Marketplace

Why Waymo is sharing some of its self-driving car data

Aug 21, 2019
Figuring out self-driving cars is one of the biggest technology challenges for companies. Sharing data could benefit the whole industry.
Waymo's robominivans collect information about the world they drive through.
Waymo

Ford layoffs necessary to fund bets on its future

May 21, 2019
The future of the auto industry is uncertain as ride-sharing, self-driving vehicles and other technologies evolve.
Cars are reflected in the grill of a new Ford truck in Richmond, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images