Things have been somewhat unclear in regard to Cruise, General Motors‘ upcoming robo-taxi service. The ground-breaking Uber rival was set to launch during the fourth quarter of 2019, but it’s currently unknown whether the service is still on track for that timeline, as GM CEO – Mary Barra – recently side-stepped questions about the service’s launch cadence. But there’s at least some positive news about the upcoming service.
In May of last year, GM announced that SoftBank would invest $2.25 billion into the fledgling service. And though the investment had been announced a while ago, it had been delayed due to SoftBank’s connections with China. The original plan was that SoftBank’s investment in Cruise would come in two waves.
The first was a $900 million injection as Cruise continues to work on developing its self-driving cars, which are based on the Chevrolet Bolt EV. The remaining $1.35 billion would come when Cruise is preparing for commercial deployment.
Now, the U.S. government has cleared the investment, which means the deal is going full-swing. Back when it was announced in 2018, Barra said that “teaming up with SofBank adds an additional strong partner as we pursue our vision of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion.”
GM is committed to its Cruise project, sometimes referred to as Cruise Automation, which it sees as a multi-billion dollar opportunity filling a need transporting those living in large, congested cities. The service, through its Cruise AV prototypes, has proved effective during development, recently showing the ability to execute complex left-hand turns in a traffic-dense intersection. However, trips in the current prototypes aren’t exactly fast, taking as much as 80 percent longer than a traditional taxi to reach a destination.
Cruise will rival Google’s Waymo service in Phoenix, Arizona, as well as Ford’s upcoming Argo project in Miami, Florida.
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Comments
I’d never step foot in one and it looks like a huge waste of money. How much does it cost to add 14 cameras and 6 radar units to the top of a vehicle? How much insurance do they have to carry in case of an accident?
I can’t figure this one out. What the hell is wrong with a traditional taxi driver? Or ride-sharing? Why is GM so obsessed with removing the driver from the car?
WHY? It makes no f***ing sense.
I agree! The thing looks like a slapped together piece of junk. Meanwhile your product lineup is suffering because of the money wasted on this endeavor. And if safety is really the name if the game, it would be mandated that a licenced, alert driver take the controls when this drone inevitably fails. But GM management is hellbent on being first with something nobody wants.
If you don’t make the future, your union boys won’t have one.
You think the captcha that’s used to verify you’re not a bot isn’t being used to teach an autonomous car how to see the road? Why do you think they want you to identify cross-walks, stoplights, buses, hills, overpasses, bicycles, and storefronts?
The users of GMA, and in thousands of blogs everywhere, are already teaching autonomous cars how to see the road.
The game is far more ahead than you may be willing to admit to. Strengthening driver licencing and education will not keep the roads safe nor will it allow for greater coordinated traffic density.
it will never identify every situation and driving will always be safer with someone in the driver seat. Airplanes still have pilots for a reason. And all they have to do is get up to cruising altitude and simply fly straight and level until the destination. Driving is far, far more complicated. There will never be truly autonomous vehicles and I stand by my statement that if they do create them, I will not set foot in one without having full access to the controls should I want it.
“You think the captcha that’s used to verify you’re not a bot isn’t being used to teach an autonomous car how to see the road? Why do you think they want you to identify cross-walks, stoplights, buses, hills, bicycles, and storefronts?”
??????????????????????????????
https://www.ceros.com/originals/recaptcha-waymo-future-of-self-driving-cars/
Still laughing?
If you can teach a computer to read words, you can teach a computer to drive. We are well beyond a computer seeing raw data as binary inputs. Computers are now be taught to see the built environment in the same way we’ve all leaned how to see the built environment; by experience.
I suggest you watch the video in the link too.
Here’s a nice reality check article from a left leaning publication about the “imminent ” future of AVs and EVs.
https://www.fastcompany.com/90374083/for-years-automakers-wildly-overpromised-on-self-driving-cars-and-electric-vehicles-what-now
“Don’t fight the future. Embrace it.”
Elon Musk
So the Chinese have full access to this tech through Softbank? Once again, the Chinese will get technology transfer from the US without spending a dime. The Chinese tentacles run deep indeed.
SoftBank Group Corp. is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.
“And though the investment had been announced a while ago, it had been delayed due to SoftBank’s connections with China. ”
Did you read the article? Even if they have headquarters in Japan, they must have a Chinese partner to transfer tech to in China if they want to operate there.
we really need to quit doing these recaptcha things, its bringing autonomous vehicles closer to reality
maybe we should boycott any site that does them