Retail Disruption Watch (July 2019)

CHICAGO — Wild claims from Tesla’s CEO and news from Google’s self-driving car business Waymo tend to dominate autonomous vehicle (AV) headlines; however, other car manufacturers and technology companies are not standing still in the race to put more self-driving cars on the road.

Click through for updates from government entities and private companies alike on the state of AV technology in the United States …

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signaled that the Sunshine State is open for AV business. The governor signed a bill stating that as of July 1, 2019, AVs without humans behind the wheel will be allowed on all state roads if the vehicle meets insurance and safety requirements outlined by the bill, according to Engadget.

Google’s Waymo recently announced it is building an AV factory in Detroit, but it is not the only company courting the city, TechCrunch reports. Ford and its tech partner Argo AI are testing their newest third-generation AV model in downtown Detroit. The new model includes upgrades across a wide variety of systems, including software, sensors and computing.

The Verge reported that Apple has purchased Drive.ai, a startup AV firm that was headed for mass layoffs. A Bloomberg article also said Apple recently cut about 200 workers from its AV initiative but that it is still committed to advancing its own version of the technology.

Uber put its AV work on hold after one of its self-driving test vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in early 2018, but the ride-hailing firm restarted testing as of December 2018. More recently, in June 2019, Uber and its partner Volvo unveiled their newest self-driving car model, the XC90, reported Reuters. The new car includes backup systems for steering and breaking, as well as backup battery power and new cybersecurity systems.

According to a recent article in The Information, a Silicon Valley digital publication, General Motors is behind on its launch of the Chevy Cruise self-driving taxi service due to problems with the Cruise’s AV system. The article lists several system issues. Reportedly, the cars shut down unexpectedly, become confused by occurrences as common as water splashing from other cars and continue to brake suddenly and aggressively.