Penske’s Bill Combs and Waymo’s Charlie Jatt believe the trucking industry can reap the benefits before achieving Level 5 autonomy through repositioning warehouses that are optimized for AVs, employing tele-operations, and adapting automated safety technologies available now.
Waymo has begun carrying out interstate mapping operations by a fleet of minivans in New Mexico and Texas – a move that is seen by many tech observers as a prelude to long-haul evaluation runs of tractor-trailers under autonomous control.
Much of the talk around self-driving trucks has focused on safety enhancements lately. But Waymo's CEO made it clear that trucking nonstop and around-the-clock remains the Holy Grail of tech developers.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced 33 charges of theft and attempted theft of trade secrets against ex-Google engineer and Pronto AI founder Anthony Levandowski.
In its newly released series of 2018 disengagement reports, the California Department of Motor Vehicles found that Waymo had the fewest autonomous vehicle disengagements per mile last year and Apple had the most.
The National Safety Council's Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO, will leave the organization on Jan. 11 to join California-based Waymo, a self-driving technology company, where she will serve as chief safety officer.
Uber, ATA, Daimler, Toyota, and others have formed a new partnership to study the potential impacts of self-driving vehicles on American workers and the economy.
A Waymo self-driving car was involved in a three-vehicle crash on May 4 in a busy shopping district of Chandler, Arizona, that was caused by a red-light runner, according to media reports.
Google's autonomous technology division said in a recent blog post it will begin testing self-driving trucks hauling freight to Google data centers in and around Atlanta.
Uber and Waymo have agreed to terms on a settlement in a lawsuit over alleged stolen autonomous vehicle technology that will give Waymo a stake in Uber and absolve the company of wrongdoing.