Walter Isaacson, the biographer who chronicled the lives of Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin and Leonardo da Vinci, is turning his attention to the life and career of Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO announced the project in a tweet Wednesday. If you’re curious about Tesla, SpaceX & my general goings on, @WalterIsaacson is writing a biography… Read More »
In the world of robotic startups, acquisition is often as good an outcome as any. And when it comes to robotic tractor startups, you could do worse than being acquired by John Deere. The agricultural technology giant announced today that it’s set to acquire Bear Flag Robotics for $250 million. The Bay Area-based firm, which… Read More »
Companies developing driver detection technology could get a boost from a provision tucked inside the 2,702-page $1 trillion infrastructure bill that would require automakers to build into new cars technology that can tell if drivers have had a few cold ones. The provision in the bill, which is actually a piece of bipartisan legislation called… Read More »
The $3.8 billion sale of Swedish automotive tech company Veoneer to Magna International hit a roadblock Thursday after chipmaker Qualcomm submitted a bid for the company for $800 million more. Qualcomm’s $4.6 billion bid, which comes in at $37 per share, has already received approval from the company’s board and would not need a stockholder… Read More »
Comma just wrapped up Comma Con, it’s developer and customer conference, in San Diego, no less 🙂 The big announcement is the Comma Three, a $2199 aftermarket product that provides high-level lane keeping and cruise control to a wide variety of vehicles. I purchased the original Comma several years ago and tried it out on a… Read More »
Agriculture cannot survive solely on traditional methods and needs large-scale technology interventions With global population growing at a rate of over 1 % per year, meeting the food requirement of all these people is going to be a challenge in the coming years. One of the ways in which this challenge can be addressed is… Read More »
Mobileye recently announced that it has expanded its autonomous vehicle testing to New York City. The Intel subsidiary released “an unedited 40-minute drive” of its camera-only vehicle traveling autonomously through the Big Apple. Previously, I annotated a similar Mobileye drive through Jerusalem, so I did that again for New York. My main takeaway is just how much… Read More »
Argo will launch robotaxis on Lyft’s ridesharing network in Miami by the end of 2021, and in Austin in 2022, according to both a press release last week and an article by CEO Brian Salesky announced in the company’s Ground Truth online magazine. “Companies with the three key aspects required to launch, validate and scale… Read More »
General Motors said Wednesday it is adding to two new zero-emissions vehicles to its commercial portfolio as it looks to expand its first-to-last-mile business arm, BrightDrop. The first vehicle will be a battery electric cargo van under the Chevrolet brand that will likely be similar to the popular Chevy Express van. The second will be… Read More »
Fresh off a strategic partnership with Toyota Industries Corporation to build an autonomous forklift, Third Wave Automation has snagged another $40 million from investors. The California-based startup, which was founded in 2018, has raised $40 million in a Series B round led by Norwest Venture Partners, including participation from prior investors Innovation Endeavors and Eclipse,… Read More »