San Francisco mob sets fire to Waymo vehicle

An angry mob destroyed a Waymo self-driving taxi in San Francisco on Monday night. The incident occurred around 9pm local time when a group of approximately 20 individuals surrounded the stationary Waymo vehicle.

https://twitter.com/SFFDPIO/status/1756581720399520077

While footage of the event has surfaced online, it remains unclear what prompted the mob to destroy the vehicle. Speculation has arisen following a recent incident involving a Waymo vehicle colliding with a...

12 February 2024 | Connected Vehicles

Key figures depart Cruise amid robotaxi incidents

Daniel Kan, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Cruise – the autonomous car firm backed by General Motors – has resigned. This development closely follows the departure of Cruise's CEO and fellow co-founder, Kyle Vogt, who made his resignation announcement just a day prior.

The departure of both key figures comes in the wake of a series of safety incidents involving Cruise's driverless cars on the streets of San Francisco, where the company is headquartered.

One...

21 November 2023 | Applications

DoJ charges former Apple engineer with stealing autonomous car secrets

A former Apple engineer has been charged by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) for stealing trade secrets relating to autonomous cars.

The indictment was unsealed by a federal court in California, revealing the case as part of a broader crackdown on efforts by hostile nation-states to illicitly acquire sensitive US technology for their own purposes.

The accused individual, Weibao Wang, was hired by Apple in 2016 as a software engineer for their autonomous driving project...

17 May 2023 | Connected Vehicles

Ex-Apple engineer pleads guilty to stealing autonomous car secrets

A former Apple engineer has pled guilty to stealing hardware and schematics for the company’s autonomous car project.

Xiaolang Zhang was arrested at San Jose International Airport back in 2018 while attempting to catch a last-minute flight to China.

Zhang was accused of stealing circuit boards and a Linux server from Apple’s secret development labs. He also allegedly transferred a 25-page document to his wife’s laptop that included technical manuals and engineering...

23 August 2022 | Connected Vehicles

Hyundai-Aptiv joint venture Motional unveils its first Lyft robotaxi

Motional, a joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv, has unveiled its first robotaxi that will be available via Lyft’s app.

The all-electric IONIQ 5 robotaxi is based on the same vehicle that launched worldwide earlier this year. As a Level 4 autonomous vehicle, it can safely operate without a driver.

Woongjun Jang, Head of the Autonomous Driving Center at Hyundai Motor Group, said:

“Hyundai Motor has evolved its IONIQ 5, a battery electric vehicle built on...

1 September 2021 | Applications

Ex-Google engineer sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing autonomous car secrets

Former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for stealing autonomous car secrets.

Levandowski was employed by Google’s self-driving car division Waymo when he transferred over 14,000 secret files to his laptop before leaving the company.

The stolen files were taken to Uber, where Levandowski led the firm’s own robotaxi project. US District Judge William Alsup called Levandowski’s actions the "biggest trade secret crime I have...

5 August 2020 | Connected Vehicles