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.
Microsoft's fall Surface event on Tuesday came with a surprise: headphones. The company's newly announced Surface Headphones represent the first audio device in the Surface lineup. Hope King got a chance to try them out firsthand.
Honda is making a big investment in autonomous cars, with $2.75 billion going to GM's self-driving car company Cruise over the next 12 years. Kyle Vogt, CEO of Cruise, said this investment propels the technology forward and makes autonomous vehicles a possibility much sooner.
Dipayan Ghosh, fellow at the Shorenstein Center and a former adviser to both Facebook and the Obama White House, said that big tech has been ignoring "the little guy" for a long time and putting tech users and their privacy at risk.
The team became the first in the NBA to introduce GIFs for the Facebook platform. Sandro Gasparro, director of social media for the Los Angeles Clippers, told Cheddar it's not just another way to promote engagement, but can also connect fans to players on a more personal level.
Cargo, a start-up that lets rideshare drivers sell convenience store items to passengers from their vehicles, recently raised $22 million after closing an exclusive partnership with Uber. Jeff Cripe, founder and CEO of Cargo, said the deal with Uber doesn't preclude drivers from using the service if they drive for Lyft, Via, or others.
On Tuesday, Amazon announced that it will be raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour. The news comes after months of criticism and even proposed legislation spearheaded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA). The "Stop BEZOS" Act introduced in the Senate in September would require corporations like Amazon to contribute to the cost of social services for its employees. Khanna was sponsoring a version in the House. He said he commends Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and believes this move will propel other corporations in the same direction.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse says he's not focused on the day to day price movements of his crypto. "XRP is the most efficient digital asset to solve a payments problem," he said.
Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations at Amazon, spoke to Cheddar from the floor of one of its fulfillment centers about the company's move to institute a $15 minimum wage and lobby the federal government to raise its wage, which has stood at $7.25 since 2009.
Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL, sat down with Cheddar at this weekend's tournament at the Barclays Center and talked about the esports world and what he believes is needed for the enterprise to grow.
Scott Belsky, who sold his company to Adobe and is now its chief product officer, described how the maker of creative software transitioned into a cloud-based business model. The stock has outpaced the broader market over the last several years. Belsky also serves on Cheddar's board of directors.
