Tesla is planning to unveil its next-generation self-driving robotaxi vehicle on August 8. The announcement appears to be an acceleration of the robotaxi program, which aims to design a vehicle optimized from the ground up for driverless ridesharing. Some Tesla owners are concerned with the project as it could result in Tesla focusing on achieving self-driving on new hardware rather than on its existing vehicle fleet as promised and sold to customers for years. A picture of an early design prototype is available in the article.

Tesla will likely reveal its long-awaited autonomous robotaxi at the Warner Bros. movie studio in Los Angeles at an event on October 10. The 110-acre lot contains fake suburban towns, which could be an ideal location to test the technology. The company has been collecting data in the area to help its demonstration perform flawlessly. This approach suggests that the technology is still far away from true Level 5 autonomy and restrained by geographic limitations.

Waymo is expanding its robotaxi service areas in San Francisco and Los Angeles, indicating confidence in its autonomous vehicle technology.

Tesla teased screenshots of its ride-hailing feature along with the release of its Q1 2024 financial results. The feature allows people to summon self-driving Teslas for rides. Riders can adjust the temperature and music inside the vehicle from their phones. The feature will be integrated into the existing Tesla app. Tesla has yet to achieve unsupervised self-driving, so it is unknown when the ride-hailing feature will be available. The screenshots are available in the article.

Tesla's latest software update includes hidden code that suggests that the company is preparing for the launch of its voice assistant. Little is known about the new Tesla voice assistant, but Elon Musk has previously said that he wants Tesla drivers to be able to do everything in the car with no manual input. The software update also introduces a native Audible app.

The biggest hurdles currently facing the robotaxi industry are economic and regulatory, not technological. Robotaxi companies will need to be able to compete on price, convenience, and comfort before their vehicles become a more accepted travel option. If they are successful, there could be significant traffic and labor impacts. Robotaxis will likely make roads safer and create demand for new types of buildings with no parking.

Tesla's Full Self Driving (FSD) system has been under scrutiny following an independent evaluation that revealed significant safety concerns. The testing, conducted by AMCI Testing, assessed the performance of FSD versions 12.5.1 and 12.5.3 over a distance of more than 1,000 miles in various driving environments, including city streets and highways. The results indicated that the system required human intervention more than 75 times, averaging an alarming one intervention every 13 miles. While the FSD system demonstrated some advanced capabilities, such as maneuvering to allow oncoming vehicles to pass and yielding to pedestrians, it also exhibited dangerous behaviors. Instances included running red lights and veering into oncoming traffic on winding roads. These findings highlight a troubling aspect of the technology: despite its impressive features, the system's unpredictability can lead to critical safety risks. Guy Mangiamele, the director of AMCI Testing, noted that the initial impressive performance of FSD can create a false sense of security among drivers. This complacency is dangerous, as it may lead drivers to disengage from active control of the vehicle, which is essential for safety. Mangiamele emphasized that the most critical failures of the system often occur in split-second scenarios that require immediate human intervention, underscoring the need for drivers to remain vigilant. The evaluation also pointed to potential underlying issues with the FSD system, such as limitations in computing power or programming inadequacies. For example, the system's tendency to initiate lane changes only shortly before an exit raises questions about its overall reliability. These shortcomings contribute to a broader skepticism regarding the quality of Tesla's FSD programming and its readiness for widespread use. In summary, while Tesla's Full Self Driving technology showcases remarkable advancements, the independent testing has revealed significant safety concerns that necessitate human oversight. The findings serve as a reminder of the complexities and challenges associated with autonomous driving systems, highlighting the importance of maintaining driver engagement and awareness.

A recent tweet from Tesla's official account listed a rundown of the company's accomplishments under Elon Musk's leadership since 2018, when the $55 billion pay package was approved by shareholders. The last item on the list claims that the company has two Optimus robots performing tasks in a factory autonomously. Musk recently said that the Optimus robot might go on sale as soon as next year. It is expected to cost 'less than half of a car'.

Waymo is now providing more than 100,000 paid robotaxi rides per week in the US. It serves the most trips in San Francisco. The company claims that its driverless vehicles have driven over 14.8 million rider-only miles. It also claims that the Waymo Driver is 3.5 times better at avoiding crashes that cause injuries and 3 times better at avoiding police-reported crashes than human drivers.

Uber's Q2 results emphasized its growing AV segment, highlighting a 6x rise in autonomous trips year-over-year and partnerships with AV leaders like Waymo and Alphabet. CEO Khosrowshahi expressed confidence in Uber's global AV acquisition strategy, distancing from a winner-take-all approach. The presentation also hinted at future AV developments, including a collaboration with BYD on autonomous-capable EVs.

Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) is now $99 a month. The company is currently deploying FSD v12, a new version fully powered by AI that is supposed to be a significant advancement compared to previous versions. Tesla dealers were recently mandated to provide FSD demo drives for all new deliveries. Existing owners in North America are able to receive a one-month free trial of the system.

Tesla's FSD v12.5.3 features Actually Smart Summon, a type of summon available on vehicles without ultrasonic sensors. The update is currently going out to early-access customers. It is being rolled out to both AI4 and HW3 cars. Actually Smart Summon has greatly improved capabilities over its predecessor and uses end-to-end AI rather than relying on hand-coded features to control vehicles. The feature is expected to roll out to North America first before gradually rolling out to additional countries.

Waymo is starting tests of its fifth-generation driverless Jaguar I-Pace in Austin as it advances towards launching a ride-hail service. Initially, rides will be for Waymo employees, with plans to open to the public later. Waymo's expansion in Austin contributes to its roadmap of providing autonomous vehicle services in multiple cities.

CSV is common in the data science space as it is human-readable, less verbose than options like JSON and XML, and super-easy to produce from almost any tool. However, the format is usually underspecified and CSV files have terrible compression and performance. There are many file formats more suitable for working with tabular data. This post looks at one of them, Apache Parquet, and shows how it is better in both compression and performance with examples.

Tesla employees are now required to install and show customers how to use the latest version of the company's Full Self-Driving (FSD) premium driver assistance system before completing a vehicle delivery in North America. All Tesla vehicles have a standard driver assistance system called Autopilot. The FSD option costs $199 per month for most customers. Drivers must remain attentive to the road and ready to steer or brake at any time when using FSD.

Adam Neumann, former WeWork CEO, has submitted an unsolicited bid in excess of $500 million to acquire WeWork out of bankruptcy. The bid could potentially go up to $900 million pending due diligence. It is unclear how Neumann will finance the offer. The bid may make WeWork's bankruptcy proceedings more complex. The company is seeking to walk away from some of its longer-term commitments in less lucrative markets, but some of its lessors are fighting these efforts.

Land near power plants is set to become a hot commodity due to AI. Several data center operators, including AWS and Microsoft, have explored nuclear-powered options for their operations. While most projects are looking to build on the land surrounding nuclear plants, some projects, like Microsoft's, are exploring the idea of installing tiny modular plants to power existing data centers. While small modular reactors are not yet ready for production, there are still more than 400 reactors around the globe to collocate with.

Inkjet technology has found a host of applications beyond putting dots on paper. It can now be used to make DNA microarrays for genomics, create electrical traces for printed circuit boards, and build 3D-printed structures. The technology could eventually also be used for personalized medicine and the development of advanced batteries. This article looks at the history of the technology, how it developed, as well as what the future holds for inkjet systems.

The US vs Apple case will take years to conclude. Apple's success is built upon integration - its hardware, software, services, and entire ecosystem of products work together to create an experience. Developers who want to enter the iOS ecosystem have to go through the App Store and abide by its rules and restrictions. This article looks at the facts of the case against Apple, which directly attacks Apple's core differentiation: its deep integrations across its devices.

The Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta v12.3 update, which Elon Musk has described as a "big release", uses end-to-end neural nets for vehicle controls, a shift from programmer-coded controls.

Cruise is resuming operations in Sunnyvale and Mountain View, with human-driven vehicles for mapping and plans to progress to supervised AV testing later this fall. This follows a settlement and leadership change after an October 2023 crash. Cruise has issued software updates and signed a partnership with Uber for robotaxi services starting in 2025.

Tesla says that its own 4680 battery cells, a new cell format enabled by new technologies like tabless cells, are expected to become cheaper than cells coming from suppliers by the end of the year. Tesla's 4680 battery cell was first revealed in 2020 with promises of enabling significantly lower cost, more range, and faster charging. They are currently exclusively used in the Cybertruck. Tesla plans to continue to purchase its cells from LG, Panasonic, and CATL.

Tesla's recent numbers show that its bad design is causing the company to suffer. The company's car design needs to be more modern and modern. Its insistent commitment to following impossible manufacturing specs has caused production problems. Tesla's refusal to use third parties to craft and manufacture components has led to quality issues. The lack of dealerships constantly decreases customer satisfaction.

Tesla has cut the prices of its models across China, Europe, and the US. Full Self-Driving is now $8,000 in the US. In China, the revamped Model 3 is now 241,900 yuan (~$32,000), down from 245,900 yuan previously and the Model Y was discounted to 249,900 yuan (~$34,500) from 263,900 yuan. The cheapest Model Y in the US is now $42,990. Tesla is facing several challenges, including a recall of almost 3,900 Cybertrucks, sales drops, interrupted production schedules, and more.

Tesla has canceled dozens of Cybertruck deliveries due to an unexpected delay. The reason for the suspended deliveries is unknown. There is some evidence that it may be due to an issue with the electric pickup truck's accelerator. Several sources have reported issues with sudden acceleration, with some pointing to possible causes for the issue.

Waymo One now allows anyone in San Francisco to hail a ride with its autonomous vehicles. The company is scaling up operations after offering tens of thousands of trips weekly. Its all-electric fleet supports the local economy and its sustainability goals. Citing enhanced safety, Waymo says its vehicles are involved in significantly fewer crashes compared to human drivers.

xAI has announced raising $6 billion in funding to help bring the startup's first products to market, build advanced infrastructure, and accelerate the research and development of future technologies. The funding comes from several sources, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Saudi Arabian Prince Al Waleed bin Talal. Elon Musk plans to launch xAI's new data center by the fall of 2025. Musk has said he would prefer to build products outside of Tesla when it comes to AI and robotics unless he gets more control.

Elon Musk says that he will ‘discuss' with Tesla regarding investing $5 billion in xAI, his own private artificial intelligence company.

Tesla had 3,400 job postings across the US, Mexico, Canada, and Puerto Rico on May 1, but it has since removed almost all of them. The bulk of the positions were in California, Texas, and Nevada, where the company has its gigafactories. This is the second time that Tesla has almost entirely wiped out its job postings since it began laying off workers on April 16. The company entered its fourth consecutive week of layoffs this week. At least six high-profile executives have either already resigned or plan to later this year.

Tesla is laying off its director of EV charging Rebecca Tinucci, the head of new vehicle development Daniel Ho, as well as the teams that operated under the two executives. These layoffs are part of a larger effort by CEO Elon Musk to reduce costs and headcount within the company. Tesla plans to continue building out some new Supercharger locations and finish those currently under construction. Musk is also dissolving the company's public policy team in this latest cull.