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.
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Adrian Lovett, president and CEO of the non-profit Web Foundation, told Cheddar's Alex Heath why the rate of people getting online for the first time is becoming stagnant.
Services aren't just for tech companies ー retailers are also latching onto the recurring revenue trend. And for industry vet Office Depot, the services model promises serious growth. "We are not a retailer, we are an omni-channel company," Office Depot CEO Gerry Smith told Cheddar, underscoring the importance of services revenue and Office Depot's business-to-business division.
Microsoft will continue to provide technology to U.S. agencies and the military, despite the objections raised by employees over how the products are being used, specifically with regard to immigration and border control. "We will be proactive in using our voice," said Microsoft President Brad Smith, speaking to Cheddar from the 2018 Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. "We think we'll be more persuasive if we're engaged than if we withdraw."
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Political fixer-turned VC Bradley Tusk doesn't think it's sufficient to just bring voters to the polls ー he wants to bring the polls to them. "We know, fundamentally, democracy works when a lot of people vote, and it really doesn't work when very few people vote," Tusk told Cheddar on Tuesday.
Incoming Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi, currently the company's EVP of small business, tells Cheddar that the software company plans to lean on its open platform and innovations in artificial intelligence to put more money in the pockets of its customers. "There is not enough we could do for our customers," Goodarzi said Tuesday.
Cheddar's Tanaya Macheel breaks down the crypto wallet firm Blockchain's newest ventures, including its giveaway of $125 million in tokens.
It's midterms day in America! After a whopping 36 million people voted early, many are predicting record voter turnout for this midterms election. Rapper Fat Joe joins Cheddar to talk about his efforts to get young voters to the polls as part of MTVs '+1 The Vote' campaign. And, we dig into reports that Amazon is splitting its second headquarters, also known as HQ2, between two different cities.
Alexis Ohanian and Garry Tan spoke with Cheddar's Alex Heath from the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal about what they both look at before seeding a company. It all comes down to software.
