The news media has expended considerable effort researching and publishing information about the robotaxi business. This channel highlights some of the important articles.
StreetBlogs reports that autonomous vehicles are not doing very well, and many people are skeptical of them. Now advocates are demanding regulations for safety.
Electrek reports that after years of refusing, Tesla is finally reporting more in depth data for its (non-auto) Autopilot. And the numbers explain why they stopped reporting data completely back in 2022.
Somehow a Waymo was driving down a slow alley in Phoenix yet managed to hit a very large pole with enough speed to crumple the front end. The waiting passengers were not impressed and did not accept the offer of a replacement Waymo, one which got stuck at the crash scene.
Opinion piece in Bloomberg on how Elon Musk's pursuit of robotaxis could be a huge setback for Tesla. Musk has placed more of Tesla’s fortunes in the hands of public officials and processes beyond the routinely accommodating environs of the boardroom and the stock market. Reality, and a lower stock price, will surely result.
Article by Electrek on Elon Musk's latest extortion attempt. Given that Tesla is not an AI nor a robotics company, that Elon Musk knows nothing about either of those technologies, and that working on them would only distract Tesla from selling more cars, this is a prime opportunity for the Tesla Board to exercise their fiduciary responsibility and simply state "no thanks".
A detailed article by Fortune on what has happened to Cruise since their October 2nd crash. Though it appears that Fortune still believes that GM will do what is needed to make Cruise successful, when it is actually quite clear that Cruise is doomed.
Bloomberg article on how while Tesla is trying to get out of the lawsuit that it misled consumers on Tesla's self-driving capabilities, a California judge has ruled that some of the negligence and fraud claims can proceed.
Washington Post reports that Cruise settled with the severely injured person who was dragged by their robotaxi October 2nd, 2023. The settlement amount was between $8 million and $12 million, indicating severe and permanently disabling injuries inflicted due to their weak technology.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that Motional has completely halted their Las Vegas commercial self-driving operations and laid off many employees. This is all part of Motional downsizing a total of 550 people. Surely they will soon no longer exist.
Hoodline SF reports that even though most attention is towards Waymo and Cruise, Zoox has had their share of mishaps and are now being investigated by the NGTSA.
