Self-driving cars to hit UK roads by the end of the year February 6, 2019 Completely driverless cars could be on UK roads by the end of this year, after the government today said it would be overhauling existing regulations. The change by the Department for Transport will allow self-driving cars to be trialled on any public road without a human safety driver behind the wheel, however they must have [...]
Apple dismisses more than 200 staff from self-driving car unit Project Titan January 24, 2019 Apple has cut more than 200 staff from its secretive self-driving car unit Project Titan, as the business undergoes some restructuring under new management. The dismissals, first reported by CNBC, come after Apple hired a former veteran of the firm Doug Field and Tesla's ex-vice president of engineering to lead the project alongside Bob Mansfield last [...]
Tomtom moves focus to driverless technology as it sells telematics unit for €910m January 22, 2019 Satnav maker Tomtom will sell its telematics business unit to multinational Bridgestone as it looks to move more focus towards develop driverless car technologies. The €910m (£801m) deal sees the Japanese tyre and rubber company take over a business which helps firms track their fleets and manage efficiency. Read more: Jaguar Land Rover and Addison Lee [...]
Off road: Is the car industry in reverse? January 14, 2019 The automotive industry faces recession and decline. Driverless cars are on the horizon, but has the moment for motors already passed? The first Model T Ford rolled off the production line in 1908. Available in “any colour… so long as it is black”, in the words of magnate Henry Ford, the car marked a breakthrough [...]
Jaguar Land Rover and Addison Lee receive £25m to trial their self-driving cars in Greenwich November 22, 2018 Jaguar Land Rover and Addison Lee are among the winners of a government-backed £25m funding pot to develop driverless cars in London by 2021, it was revealed today. A consortium of tech, vehicle and transport firms have secured a grant from the government's Connected and Autonomous Vehicles programme to introduce 15 self-driving vehicles as part of [...]
Addison Lee launches self-driving taxi trials in Canary Wharf November 7, 2018 Private hire firm Addison Lee has begun trialling self-driving car technology, created by UK startup Oxbotica, on the streets of London. Driving around the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, Addison Lee's manned cars are creating a three-dimensional street map of the city in order to create the backdrop for future driverless cars. Organised together with Canary [...]
DEBATE: Given the ethical issues exposed in a recent MIT study, will we ever fully trust autonomous vehicles? November 1, 2018 Given the ethical issues exposed in a recent MIT study, will we ever fully trust autonomous vehicles? Daniel Pitchford, co-founder of AI Business, said YES. There are approximately 1.3m global road deaths each year, and 95 per cent of these are caused by human error. The deaths due to driverless cars currently stand at four. [...]
Addison Lee signs strategic deal with driverless startup Oxbotica for London revolution October 22, 2018 Private hire firm Addison Lee has signed a strategic partnership with UK software startup Oxbotica to bring self-driving car services to Londoners by 2021. Addison Lee said the two firms will collaborate on technological development, deployment and operation of self-driving cars to first provide affordable ride-sharing taxi services in the capital. In the long term, it [...]
Toyota and Softbank team up on ride-sharing, driverless tech unit October 4, 2018 Toyota and Softbank have unveiled a partnership that will see the two companies collaborate on transport services that utilise self-driving technology. Named Monet, a play on the longer term Mobility Network, the new venture will be initially funded at ¥2bn (£13.5m), with Softbank taking a stake of just over half of the business. “SoftBank alone and automakers alone [...]
Dyson writes off £46m on battery developer Sakti 3 September 23, 2018 Vacuum cleaner manufacturer Dyson has written off £46m on US battery developer Sakti 3. Dyson Technology bought the company, which is a spin-off from the University of Michigan, for $90m (£58m at the time) in 2015 as part of its strategy to develop an electric car. Read more: Dyson plugs £200m into driverless cars UK technology campus Accounts for [...]