The autonomous vehicle industry is stuck in place without human drivers.

Self-driving car company lays off all human safety drivers

Slamming Brakes

Zoox just laid off all of the contractors it had working as safety drivers for its self-driving cars because of California's shelter-in-place rule.

Self-Driving Car Company Lays Off All Its Human Safety Drivers

High-tech automation meets coronavirus-related layoffs.

GM is confident in its tech, but it wouldn't be the first time a self-driving car company overpromised.

General Motors wants self-driving cars to lose the steering wheel

Re-inventing Trains

General Motors is lobbying the federal government for permission to test on public roads self-driving cars that don't have steering wheels.

General Motors: Self-Driving Cars Without Steering Wheels | Futurism

It also wants the cars on public roads.

General Motors Wants Self-Driving Cars to Lose the Steering Wheel

"We wanted to demonstrate the safety, reliability and maturity of our overall system."

Self-driving truck completes first cross-country freight run

Butter Run

A startup just shipped 40,000 pounds of butter 2,800 miles from California to Pennsylvania in under three days using a truck that was driving itself.

Self-Driving Truck Completes First Cross-Country Freight Run

Is self-driving technology ready for prime time?

Waymo has decided to remove human operators from their self-driving cars. Now, the vehicle is totally on its own.

Waymo is taking the safety drivers out of its autonomous taxis

Major Leap

Waymo is now offering cusomters the chance to take rides in its self-driving taxis but without a human safety driver behind the wheel

Waymo Is Taking the Safety Drivers out of Its Autonomous Taxis

The self-driving car company is going fully autonomous.

Because Elaine Herzberg wasn't in a crosswalk, the Uber didn't think she was a person.

Self-driving Uber that killed woman didn't know jaywalkers exist

Blind Spot

The self-driving Uber that struck and killed an Arizona woman in March 2018 wasn't programmed to know that people could jaywalk.

Self-Driving Uber That Killed Woman Didn’t Know Jaywalkers Exist

It was only programmed to detect humans in crosswalks.

The company's self-driving tech is getting safer by the quarter.

Tesla: Autopilot is nearly 9 times safer than the average driver

Tesla Take the Wheel

Tesla says vehicles with Autopilot engaged were involved in one accident for every 4.34 million miles driven during the third quarter of 2019.

Tesla: Autopilot Is Nearly 9 Times Safer Than the Average Driver

But the system has a leg up on its human competition.

Maybe "Autopilot" needs a more accurate name.

Watch a Tesla driver cruise down the highway completely asleep

Asleep At The Wheel

A new video shows a Tesla driver asleep at the wheel while his car, presumably with Autopilot mode enabled, cruises down the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Watch a Tesla Driver Cruise Down the Highway Completely Asleep

"Wow, I was just driving next to somebody who was completely asleep on the Mass Pike."

The self-driving cars can exceed 200 mph.

Self-driving racecars are edging up toward human records

No Hands

A self-driving racecar league is in its first competitive season, and the vehicles are already approaching world record times.

Self-Driving Racecars Are Edging Up Toward Human Records

An autonomous car called DevBot is 12 seconds behind a human driver's record.

About 10 percent of riders are displeased — or worse.

Test riders in Waymo's self-driving cars won't stop complaining

Ten And Two

Internal feedback reveals that Waymo passengers aren't entirely pleased with how the company's self-driving cars are performing.

Test Riders in Waymo’s Self-Driving Cars Won’t Stop Complaining

"I got very carsick. Almost pressed the pullover button so I could barf."

"[The Venezuelans] were aware that, on one level, it's exploitation and they have to do it because everything else failed them."

Self-driving car companies depend on cheap labor from Venezuela

AI Exploitation

Self-driving car companies are benefitting from cheap Venezuelan labor as they compile mountains of annotated training data for their AI.

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