Toyota pushes the pedal on self-driving tech with $550m Lyft deal April 27, 2021 Toyota is set to acquire Lyft’s self-driving technology unit for $550m, both companies confirmed today, as the Japanese firm pushes the pedal on its automation ambitions. The carmaker will pay $200m cash upfront, with the remaining $350m paid over five years, gaining access to the US ride-hailing firm’s more than 300 employees. The acquisition will [...]
How e-scooters, self-driving cars, and flying taxis will shape the future of your commute February 10, 2020 An air of tranquility hangs about Stratford’s electric scooter riders. Their bodies are still, poised, as they glide by on this crisp February morning. I try to copy them and end up skidding along, struggling to figure out how to position my feet — but after a couple of wobbles I’m gliding too. As I [...]
CES 2020: Amazon, Sony and Toyota put mobility centre stage at tech conference January 7, 2020 Amazon signalled a concerted push into the car industry at CES 2020, as it announced a partnership with Lamborghini and other firms working on driverless car tech. It signals the latest move into the mobility sector for one of Silicon Valley’s tech giants, as the internet retailer said it would add its voice assistant Alexa [...]
Volkswagen throws down the gauntlet to Silicon Valley on self-driving cars October 28, 2019 Europe’s biggest car manufacturer has shifted its fight against Silicon Valley’s nascent self-driving car industry up a gear. Volkswagen has announced the foundation of Volkswagen Autonomy, or VWAT, its own self-driving tech subsidiary, to take on the likes of rivals such as Google’s Waymo. Read more: Car alarm: Half of UK consumers fear driverless vehicles [...]
Car alarm: Half of UK consumers fear driverless vehicles September 2, 2019 Almost half of UK consumers are worried about the dangers posed by driverless cars, a new survey has revealed. Roughly 43 per cent of adults surveyed said they were concerned about the problems that may arise from autonomous vehicles, as car manufacturers race to develop the new technology. Read more: Former Uber driverless guru charged [...]
Self-driving cars get first London test routes June 27, 2019 Self-driving cars have been granted their first ever London test routes in a major step forward for real-world driverless vehicle trials The testbed, which is a UK industry first, will consist of 26km of public road in Greenwich and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford. Read more: Uber’s self-driving unit raises $1bn ahead of [...]
Mobility software firm raises $4.6m from Amadeus and Global Brain May 21, 2019 Artificial intelligence mobility startup Immense Simulations has closed its series A funding round at $4.6m (£3.6m), after spinning out from the government’s Catapult tech programme in 2016. The round was co-led by Amadeus Capital Partners, previously named one of Europe’s most active AI investors, and Japanese venture capital giant Global Brain. Additional investment was provided [...]
The big fixer-upper: How to solve the problems in the mortgage market May 15, 2019 We've sent people into space, built driverless cars, and engineered robots that can think like us. And yet, fixing the mortgage approval process still seems out of humanity’s reach. The market is riddled with inefficiencies. Consumers are forced to fill out documents detailing every corner of their lives, while clunky underwriting processes mean that it [...]
Uber’s float is a huge gamble on the future of transport May 10, 2019 Every time you jump into an Uber, your ride is essentially subsidised by venture capitalists who prop up the loss-making outfit in the hope of riches down the road. Later today in New York, many more hopefuls will get the chance to back the immensely-popular-yet-controversial tech firm when it finally comes to market. Similarly [...]
Jaguar Land Rover weighing up bid for London cab company Addison Lee April 28, 2019 Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is weighing up an offer for London-based taxi company Addison Lee in a bid to keep up with companies such as Uber, the Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday. Read more: Jaguar and Addison Lee trial their driverless cars in London Addison Lee was put up for sale by its owner, US private [...]