How Uber's Self-Driving Program Differs from Waymo's
Uber’s fatal autonomous car crash is a direct result of how it has been running its self-driving project. That’s according to Alex Roy, Founder of The Human Driving Association, who says the ride-hailing company’s approach is in stark contrast to one of its rivals.
“There’s a lot of indication that Waymo’s doing this correctly. They’re taking their time, it’s a slow and steady approach,” Roy explained, citing the fact that Waymo has so far racked up about 4 million miles of testing while Uber has half of that in the books.
Meanwhile, “there’s every indication...that Uber has an existential need to get self-driving cars on the road because drivers cost so much.”
Uber faced major backlash this week after one of its driverless cars struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz., Sunday.
It is the first known fatality by an autonomous vehicle and raises questions about the future of self-driving auto industry overall.
On Thursday, Tempe police released video footage from the car’s cameras to show exactly what happened. The local police and the National Transportation Safety Board are still investigating who is to blame, but earlier in the week Tempe police said Uber will “likely not be at fault.”
“There are methods of testing self-driving vehicles, they are just going to be more tedious...that’s going to take a lot more time,” said Roy, pointing out that companies can test in closed environments and by using computer simulation instead.
“It’s not a coincidence that it’s Uber who had this crash.”
On Friday, a [New York Times report](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/technology/uber-self-driving-cars-arizona.html) uncovered that even before the crash, Uber's autonomous vehicle unit was struggling to meet internal expectations and required more human intervention than its rivals.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-dangers-of-self-driving-tech).
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
