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.
Allstate's partnership with Uber to provide drivers with commercial auto coverage now encompasses four states, including some of the New York market. The expansion hedges against a possible future where fewer car owners means fewer individual policies, said Tom Troy, executive vice president for Allstate's business insurance unit.
Tamara Warren, automotive journalist, said that Mercedes's new electric SUV is the first of what will be many luxury electric cars, and Tesla's about to get a lot more competition.
Will Uber hit its self-imposed deadline to file for an IPO in 2019? Joshua Franklin, IPO and private equity correspondent for Reuters, said it's on track.
Sachin Kansal, Uber's chief safety officer, told Cheddar about the new features rolling out to Uber drivers that were built with their feedback in mind. The announcement comes on the one-year anniversary of Dara Khosrowshahi taking over as the company's CEO.
Wednesday is a busy day on Capitol Hill. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey are testifying before the Senate as questions grow over foreign influence and fake news. Plus, Brett Kavanaugh returns to Capitol Hill to face questions from lawmakers in day two of his confirmation hearings. And we sit down with Tiffany Pham, CEO and founder of the website Mogul, to discuss how women can succeed in business.
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Bjørn Kjos, CEO of Norwegian Air, said the demographic is the most important customer the company has. The company just reported 13 percent growth in traffic in July.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg are testifying in front of the Senate. Dana Wollman, acting Editor-in-Chief of Engadget, tells Cheddar what these executives have to say to satisfy both lawmakers and investors.
Sascha Segan, mobile analyst at PC Mag, spoke with Cheddar about Samsung's plans to debut a "foldable" phone, as well as to unveil improvements to other mid-tier devices.
Samsung announcing that consumer will be seeing a flexible phone by the end of this year. Sascha Segan, lead mobile analyst at PC Mag, joins Cheddar to discuss what this innovation means and why the company is looking to improve the technology of its mid-tier phones.
