Google Autonomous Car

New study of self-driving cars puts Google at the back of the pack

Every few months, we learn a bit more about the state of self-driving cars and who's winning the race to bring them to market. Depending on the criteria being used, the rankings can shift pretty dramatically, as we can see in a new report from Germany's Cologne Institute for Economic Research. That...Read More»

Waymo trains self-driving cars to identify emergency vehicles
Waymo's next trick for self-driving cars? Identifying emergency vehicles

Waymo may be winning the race to build fully autonomous cars (at least by some estimates), but it still has a long way to go before those vehicles can roll themselves into showrooms. Among the more challenging tricks that self-driving cars have to master next is recognizing emergency vehicles and...Read More»

Waymo self-driving prototype
Waymo drops 3 out of 4 patent claims against Uber

If you read that headline and thought that Uber might be off the hook for making use of information stolen from Waymo/Google, think again. It's true that the autonomous car start-up has dropped 75 percent of its patent claims in the increasingly messy court battle. The suit has centered on...Read More»

Self-driving Uber
Is this the 'smoking gun'? Uber promised former Waymo engineer legal aid

It's hard to believe, but Uber's no good, very bad week, just got less good and even worse. Following the resignation of the company's embattled CEO, Travis Kalanick, a document has emerged that suggests Uber knew about a massive theft of trade secrets from Waymo, which was carried out by one of...Read More»

Lyft car with trademark pink mustache (via Wikimedia)


Waymo self-driving prototype
The Uber vs. Waymo case is about to play out in public

Grab the popcorn and set your phone to vibrate: the messy lawsuit between Waymo (aka Google's self-driving car project) and Uber (aka the ride-sharing company that needs another bad headline like Mark Zuckerberg needs another million dollars) is going to play out in public. If you're already...Read More»

Uber’s Volvo XC90 autonomous car prototype
Good news for Uber's self-driving cars, bad news for Uber itself

Given the endless series of dumpster fires that have engulfed Uber since late last year, this week wasn't so bad. Of course, that's not saying much. And in fact, two of the week's major headlines suggest that Uber could face far worse trials in the near future. Here's a quick good news/bad news...Read More»

Apple car conceived by children's book author Richard Scarry
What do we really know about Apple's self-driving car, now that it's been seen?

Late last week, an eagle-eyed car fan in California spotted a self-driving vehicle on the roads of Silicon Valley. That in itself wasn't weird--after all, plenty of start-ups in the area are trying their hand at autonomous technology. What made this unusual was that the car was owned by Apple. The...Read More»

Uber self-driving prototype in San Francisco
Uber's self-driving car guru steps aside in wake of lawsuit

Uber's race to develop fleets of self-driving cars and big rigs has hit another speed bump: yesterday, the head of its autonomous vehicle program stepped down from his post in the wake of a complicated lawsuit. The move isn't especially surprising. A recap For nearly nine years, Anthony Levandowksi...Read More»

Waymo self-driving prototype
Live in Phoenix? Take one of Waymo's self-driving cars to work (or school, or the mall)

Back in December, just a few days after Google's self-driving car project became known as Waymo, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced that it was partnering with the new company to build a test fleet of autonomous vehicles. According to the agreement, FCA ponied up 100 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrids, and...Read More»

Waymo self-driving car prototype
The Waymo/Google vs. Uber/Otto battle is getting uglier (and way more complicated)

Not so long ago, someone might've looked at that headline and thought we'd lost our minds, or at least fallen asleep on the keyboard. These days, though, we're all too familiar with what each of those words means and what's at stake as two of the biggest players in the field of self-driving cars go...Read More»

Waymo self-driving prototype
Waymo sues Uber, claiming former employee stole top-secret technology

We live in confusing times. Presenters dole out movie awards to films that didn't win. The last Republican president has been criticizing the current one. And two self-driving car start-ups are embroiled in a court battle over allegations of corporate espionage. Oh, and to make that last item even...Read More»

Waymo self-driving prototype
Google's Waymo is leading the self-driving car race

Google's self-driving car project--now known as Waymo--has put plenty of miles on the odometer. In fact, since 2009, the company's autonomous fleet has traveled 2.3 million miles without assistance from their human companions. All that work is paying big dividends, according to new data from the...Read More»

Waymo self-driving prototype


The founders of Google and one of their autonomous Toyota Prius hybrids
Google's self-driving car program is now Waymo: what does that mean, exactly?

Almost exactly one year ago, we reported that Google's parent company, Alphabet, planned to spin off Google's self-driving car program in 2016. With about two weeks to go on the calendar, Alphabet has finally announced that it's doing just that. The new company is called Waymo, which could mean...Read More»

Apple car conceived by children's book author Richard Scarry
Apple finally, kinda-sorta says that it wants to build self-driving cars

The will it/won't it debate around Apple's not-so-secret desire to build self-driving cars has taken an interesting turn. In a recent letter to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the company gave its biggest hint yet that autonomous vehicles are on its radar. The five-page letter...Read More»

Sad Mac
Apple eats a big slice of humble pie, nixes plans to build cars (for now)

For a year and a half, everyone has been talking about Apple's self-driving electric car--everyone but Apple, that is. The company hasn't even confirmed what is, by all accounts, one of the tech world's worst-kept secrets: the existence of Project Titan, the Apple division tasked with building the...Read More»

Self-driving Uber
Uber's self-driving cars are on the road in Pittsburgh: how are they doing?

Back in August, the 800-pound ride-sharing gorilla known as Uber launched a fleet of self-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Earlier this week, Quartz published an alleged expose about the pilot project, implying that it was off to a rocky start, but frankly, that doesn't seem to be the...Read More»

Google's Self-Driving Prius
Would you buy a car made by Google? Our poll results


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