Reading up on autonomous-vehicles

Tesla's Cybercab robotaxi uses a more powerful FSD computer with more RAM than consumer vehicles, enabling Level 4 autonomy.

A builder details her plan to train an RL policy (PPO via PufferLib) that directly commands octocopter motors at 50 Hz, using MuJoCo simulation to handle motor lag and loop latency for fault-tolerant flight.

Waymo's vulnerability to being blocked by hostile drivers and pedestrians, combined with SF's permissive enforcement, creates a security gap that no remote override can currently address.

NHTSA investigates a fatal Tesla crash in Texas where the driver-assistance system was active, and a woman in the struck home died.

As robotic warfare shifts military power from citizens to private firms, states become dependent on corporate partners, eroding the traditional social contract that ties sovereignty to popular consent.

Waymo's nationwide expansion of driverless taxis is stalled by political opposition from labor unions and safety concerns in major markets like New York, Illinois, and Washington D.C.

Robotaxi services from Waymo and others are expanding across the U.S., but clashes with residents and police are increasing as the autonomous vehicles cause disruptions and traffic jams in cities like Atlanta.

Tesla's brand halo causes overestimation of its self-driving lead, but competitors offer comparable Level 2 systems and the brand declines due to Musk's politics and competition.

Waymo temporarily suspended service in six cities after videos emerged showing two of its autonomous vehicles stalled on flooded streets in Atlanta.

NHTSA's new ADAS benchmark names the 2026 Tesla Model Y as the first vehicle to pass its four new automated safety tests.

Companies developing self-driving car technology pivoted to industrial and smart-city applications, such as managing shipyards and traffic, after autonomous-vehicle hype faded.

Google and Waymo rejected human handoffs in self-driving cars because drivers lose situational awareness, a problem Tesla's FSD still suffers from, causing more crashes.

Passengers trapped in Waymo robotaxis during San Francisco anti-autonomous-vehicle vandalism attacks describe fear and helplessness, highlighting a safety gap in emergency egress design.

Waymo's co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana argues the company's autonomous vehicles are safer than human drivers but acknowledges earning public trust remains a difficult challenge.

Tesla began production of its purpose-built Cybercab autonomous vehicle, but faces hard challenges in mastering novel manufacturing and proving its Full-Self Driving software.

Waymo introduces a world model built on DeepMind's Genie 3 that generates photorealistic, controllable simulations with camera and lidar data for training its autonomous driving system.

Tesla is abandoning its automotive business by killing Model S/X, skipping new models, and pivoting entirely to robotaxis and humanoid robots.

PlusAI CEO David Liu predicts autonomous trucking will cut costs by 10% per mile, as his company goes public via SPAC in February.

Tesla plans to restart Dojo3 chip for space-based AI compute, using SpaceX's Starship to launch compute satellites.

FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam is steering the company toward drones, robots and AI to adapt to technology and tariff shifts that have transformed global trade.

The New York Times identifies conversational AI, autonomous vehicles, and spatial computing as the key technologies poised to reshape daily life in 2026.

Waymo expands to the entire SF Bay Area and plans 17 US cities by 2026, but faces regulatory barriers and speed-limit issues despite being vastly safer than human drivers.

At CES, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiled the next-generation Vera Rubin AI server systems, signaling faster chip development cycles driven by the AI race.

Waymo's autonomous ride-hailing service sees adoption by Los Angeles families to manage complex schedules, including shuttling children.

A Tesla owner drove a Model 3 coast-to-coast (2,732 miles) using Full Self-Driving (FSD) v14.2 with zero disengagements, a milestone celebrated by Elon Musk and Tesla executives.

Tesla's stock soars on robotaxi optimism, but experts state the automaker lags far behind Waymo in actual self-driving deployment on roads.

2026 predictions for AI focus shifting to ROI, self-driving breakout, multimodal AI advances, SpaceX IPO, and agentic commerce disrupting incumbents.

Garmin's Autoland system safely landed a King Air 200 after pilot incapacitation, marking its first real-world non-test use.

Rivian releases Universal Hands-Free driving on Gen 2 R1 vehicles, covering 3.5M miles of roads but not handling traffic controls.

Rivian announced RAP1 custom silicon, LiDAR plans for R2, and Universal Hands Free for Gen 2 at its first Autonomy and AI Day.

Surveillance video shows a woman was dragged by a Waymo self-driving taxi after she crouched to rescue a neighborhood cat, revealing a critical sensor blind spot.

Musk confirmed Tesla's Full Self-Driving v14.2.1 allows texting and driving based on traffic context, despite Level 2 limitations and legal prohibitions.

Waymo self-driving cars reduce serious injury crashes by 91 percent compared to human drivers, arguing for a shift in transportation policy.

Waymo's self-driving cars are behaving more aggressively, making illegal U-turns and accelerating immediately at green lights like New York cabbies.

Tesla launches a "Tesla Ride" program offering supervised Full Self-Driving demos and Grok AI interactions in real-world trips across U.S. markets through 2025.

Anduril Industries' autonomous weapons systems experienced breakdowns and safety concerns during a Navy exercise, leading personnel to warn of operational risks.

Amazon’s Zoox robot taxi launches in San Francisco to challenge Waymo, highlighting both the progress and remaining drawbacks of autonomous ride-hailing services.

Robotaxis and same-hour delivery will shrink the convenience gap between suburbs and cities, potentially ending the urbanist revival and challenging Uber's long-term model.