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 [...]
Uber partners with University of Arizona to beef up its research into self-driving cars August 26, 2015 Uber’s getting serious about driverless cars, after the ride-hailing app teamed up with the University of Arizona to research new technology for autonomous cars. The strategic partnership between the two will focus on the optics systems needed to make driverless cars safe for roads, according to a statement from Uber: We’ll work with some of [...]
Self-driving cars: This is why they won’t reach our roads for a long time August 25, 2015 There’s much excitement about the future of the self-driving car. We've heard endless discussions about Google's version ever since it was first launched in 2010, and now Apple has jumped on the bandwagon, too. Read more: Driverless car technology to get £20m UK government funding and testing guidelines introduced In fact, earlier this year [...]
TfL Tube strike 26 and 28 August 2015: Driverless trains would break the militant unions forever August 23, 2015 This week, fed-up Londoners will be forced to endure two more Tube strikes. And this despite Transport for London having already offered the unions: a two per cent salary increase this year, inflation-protected rises in 2016 and 2017, a £500 bonus for all staff on Night Tube lines, £200 extra per Night Tube shift for [...]
Meet the Gartner Hype Cycle for 2015: It’s all about self-driving cars and smart dust in emerging tech trends August 18, 2015 You've probably heard of the self-driving car, but smart dust probably isn't on your radar just yet. That's because the autonomous vehicle trend has hit what's known as the peak of inflated expectation. Smart dust on the other hand, is at the earliest stage of innovation, as defined by Gartner in its annual research on [...]
Audi, BMW and Daimler accelerate driverless car plans with €2.8bn Nokia Here Maps deal August 3, 2015 A group formed of some of the world’s biggest car manufacturers has bought Here, the maps arm of former mobile giant Nokia, in a €2.8bn (£1.97bn) deal designed to help them step driverless car development up a gear. German car firms Audi, BMW and Mercedes maker Daimler reportedly fought off competition from startup darling Uber, [...]