EV startup Faraday Future paid $7.5M to company tied to founder Jia Yueting
The perpetually struggling EV company made the payments while being investigated by the SEC. That four-year probe was ultimately closed in March.
Transportation
Google’s Gemini AI assistant is hitting the road in millions of vehicles
Google announced on Thursday that it will begin rolling out Gemini to cars with Google built-in, marking a significant upgrade from the current Google Assistant. The move signals Google’s push to bring more advanced, conversational AI into the driving experience. The announcement follows closely behind news from General Motors, which revealed yesterday that Gemini is […]
Gemini is rolling out to cars with Google built-in
Google is preparing to update vehicles that have Google built-in with its Gemini AI assistant. This will be an upgrade from the current Google Assistant according to Google’s announcement, and promises to provide an improved experience for natural conversations, fetching vehicle-specific information, settings adjustments, and more. “When cars with Google built-in first hit the road […]
Uber taps Hertz to clean, charge, and fix its Lucid Motors robotaxis
Hertz is creating a new affiliate company called “Oro Mobility” to provide fleet management solutions “across a range of mobility segments.”
Now California’s cops can give tickets to driverless cars
Autonomous vehicles roving California’s roads will no longer be immune to traffic tickets starting on July 1st. New regulations announced by the California DMV this week allow law enforcement to give AV manufacturers a “notice of AV noncompliance” when one of their cars commits a traffic violation, like running a red light or failing to […]
Uber is in the hotel business now, thanks in part to AI
Uber announced several new features on Wednesday during its annual event, which push far beyond the company’s original ride-hailing purpose and deeper into its users’ lives.
Uber adds hotels to its app in big travel swing
Open Uber’s app and you’ll see options to hail a car, order some food, or go grocery shopping. And starting today, you’ll see something new: hotels. In a major expansion into the world of travel accommodations, Uber says that it’s adding the ability to book and pay for a hotel room to its app. The […]
BMW i Ventures has a new $300M fund and AI is riding shotgun
BMW i Ventures is interested in startups working on agentic AI and physical AI, as well as industrial software, advanced materials, and manufacturing and supply chain technologies.
Electric air taxis are finally taking flight — just not with passengers
It was the perfect day for an electric air taxi demonstration – albeit one without passengers. On Monday, an electric aircraft from Joby Aviation took off from JFK Airport for a flight demonstrating the company’s future air taxi route to Manhattan. The aircraft – egg-shaped cabin, six tilt-rotor propellers, electric motor – made its way […]
China freezes new robotaxi licenses after Baidu chaos
China has suspended new licenses for autonomous vehicles, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. The move comes after dozens of robotaxis operated by Chinese tech giant Baidu ground to a halt in traffic last month in Wuhan, creating chaos. The restrictions will prevent companies from adding new driverless cars to their fleets, […]