Why the World's Biggest Automakers Are Turning to This Company for Self-Driving Technology
Some of the world's leading automakers are all turning to the same company to help bring past the self-driving finish line. Aurora CEO and Co-Founder Chris Urmson joins Cheddar at CES to discuss his firm's newly-announced partnership with Volkswagen Group. He describes his company's goal as providing the "drivers," by way of software, for autonomous vehicles.
The partnership is focused on developing "mobility as a service" initiative in major cities. Urmson describes how Aurora will help Volkswagen Group's fleet of self-driving cars, known as Sedric, connect people in urban communities. He explains how the service initiative will help people with mobility issues of their own, as well as making transportation easier for commuters.
Urmson reveals how his company spent the past year working with Volkswagen Group to integrate its system into the automaker's fleet. He breaks down Aurora's high-pedigree founding team, including himself, a veteran of Google's self-driving initiative, and Sterling Anderson, one of the minds behind the launch of Tesla's Model X.
A group of crypto enthusiasts pooled over $40 million dollars in an attempt to win a copy of the U.S. Constitution last week. However, their efforts came up short, as hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin emerged as the victor in a $43.2 million Sotheby's auction. Matt Cutler, CEO & Co-Founder of Blocknative, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why ConstitutionDAO ultimately came up short.
Gparency, a company that says its mission is to revolutionize the commercial mortgage industry, raised $15 million in its first funding round - representing the largest ever seed round in the commercial real estate space. Gparency's service will allow landlords and real estate developers to receive funding directly from banks, without the need for a mortgage broker. The company says its new approach will give power back to the consumer. Gparency founder and CEO Ira Zlotowitz joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Rapper and singer T-Pain is teaming up with Google this holiday season to encourage shoppers to support Black-owned businesses on Black Friday. Stephanie Horton, the director of marketing for Google Shopping, joined Cheddar to provide some details about T-Pain's new song, featuring Normani, in a new shoppable interactive film for the promotion. She also explained how Google worked with local artists in various states to create shoppable murals, where products seen in the artwork are discoverable online by simply pointing your camera at it.
Per a request from the UK singing sensation Adele after her new album "30" dropped on Friday, Spotify removed shuffle play as the default for albums. Adele tweeted about her request to the streaming service, arguing that an album's track sequence is intentional and that the songs should be listened to in that order.
Caleb Silver, the Editor-in-Chief for Investopedia, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down the latest in the Activision Blizzard sexual misconduct scandal. After 1,700 of the embattled video game maker's employees signed a petition demanding CEO Bobby Kotick step down, Kotick reportedly said he would step down if he can't turn the toxic workplace culture around quickly. Silver noted that the allegations go back years with settlements and lawsuits that indicate Kotick would have to be claiming ignorance of his own business or deliberately obfuscating his knowledge of what happened under his watch.
