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.
The cryptocurrency is seeing weakening demand, which is putting pressure on prices. “We’ve slipped back in terms of people that accept it, so the transactional network is smaller today than it was a year ago,” says Paul Johnson, senior adviser at blockchain consulting firm Harbor Peak. “We’ve got this speculative demand that’s gone away because FOMO’s gone.”
The consumer banking company, which has been testing and refining its Finn app in St. Louis since October, decided to expand its scope nationally. But the platform faces some tough competition, including Goldman Sach's Marcus and even Amazon.
Snap is reportedly looking to get into gaming, a move that other platforms will likely copy because users are starting to "socialize in these games," says Chris Merwin, esports analyst at Goldman Sachs.
More than a third of GoDaddy's 18 million users are from outside the U.S., a number that will continue to rise, says Wagner. The platform is also adding new services to help it expand beyond hosting websites. "Our goal over the next five years is to really be the place where ideas start, grow, and thrive online."
The messaging tool was down for the better part of Wednesday, affecting workplaces across the country. For its size and how crucial it has become for businesses, an hours-long outage is "really troubling," says Brett Molina, digital editor at USA TODAY.
The ride-sharing company got a new $600 million worth of funding, led by investment firm Fidelity. That raises its valuation to $15.1 billion from about $7.5 billion a year ago. But even with the fresh money, Andrew Hawkins, senior transportation reporter for the Verge, said the company could still IPO before Uber.
The White House announced plans to ease restrictions on Chinese investment in U.S. technology companies on Wednesday. The Trump administration won't block companies with 25 percent or more of Chinese ownership from buying into the U.S. tech sector. Markets rebounded on the news.
The results are in from Tuesday's primary elections. Zach Montellaro, campaign reporter at Politico, joins Cheddar to weigh in on the shocking political upset in New York's 14th district. Political newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated Rep. Joe Crowley, the fourth most powerful Democrat in the House.
Plus, Conagra Brands is buying Pinnacle Foods in a cash-and-stock deal worth $10.9 billion. The deal will create the second largest frozen food company in the U.S., just behind Nestle. Conagra owns Healthy Choice and Pinnacle owns Birds Eye.
Divi Project allows users to send cryptocurrencies to each other with the same ease as PayPal, but without the high transaction fees, since the company doesn't need an intermediary, says Co-Founder Nick Saponado.
The web hosting company's CEO spends a big chunk of time thinking about data rights and privacy, but Scott Wagner says his firm has an advantage over other internet companies because it doesn't rely on selling that info. "GoDaddy's business has always been about protecting information," Wagner said.
Match, which acquired a 51 percent stake in the dating app last week, will help the company scale both domestically and around the world, said Hinge CEO Justin McLeod. Match's portfolio also includes Tinder and OkCupid.
