- Production-proven AI vision perception software brings series-production validation capabilities to Arm Total Design for Physical AI, an ecosystem aimed at reducing integration complexity and accelerating autonomous system development - STRADVISION joins efforts to shape and evolve a Robotics Capability Framework, developing a common language for defining robotic system capabilities at increasing levels of sophistication. Collaboration targets the system-level integration challenge currently slowing deployment of robots and other autonomous machines SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- STRADVISION, an AI company specializing in production-proven visual perception software with over a decade of experience bringing advanced driver assistance and autonomous driving systems to market, today announced it is joining the Arm® Total Design for Physical AI ecosystem. The announcement was made at Arm Everywhere in Shanghai, China. Perception is a foundational capability for any autonomous system, whether it is navigating public roads or operating in other dynamic physical environments. STRADVISION has spent more than a decade bringing perception into production vehicles, delivering detection, classification, depth estimation and semantic segmentation across front-camera, surround-view and multi-camera configurations on a broad range of automotive compute platforms. Delivering that capability within the compute, power, thermal and cost budgets of a production camera module is a core discipline that physical AI systems now require at scale. That experience provides a proven foundation as the physical AI ecosystem works to integrate increasingly capable perception into robots and other autonomous machines. Physical AI is moving from technology innovation to system integration. AI and compute capability are advancing quickly, but building an autonomous machine still requires dozens of complex technologies spanning silicon, AI models, middleware, tools and applications that, today, are developed independently to work together. The result is a fragmented ecosystem in which intelligent systems are harder to design, compare, integrate and scale, and in which integration
23h ago · via prnewswire.com
The story so far: On September 3, 2026, Tesla announced the rollout of its new electric robotaxis, offering services in designated parts of Austin, Texas. According to news reports, the self-driving cars are almost impossible to ignore as their gold exterior and ‘Cybercab’ branding catch the eye. But the near-empty interior has sparked questions about the safety of passengers and their ability to intervene in case of emergencies. What are the features of Tesla’s Cybercab? The Cybercab is a self-driving car that has seating for two people. The ‘butterfly’ doors open upwards and the body boasts a sleek, cyberpunk-inspired design that contrasts sharply with the chunkier camera-mounted cars from rival Waymo. The golden exterior is meant to represent a “literal” golden age of transportation, according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. There are no steering controls or pedals inside the Cybercabs. Mr. Musk has declared that the cars were built for “maximally efficient autonomous operation.” On the absence of brake pedals, he said this would help in reducing the complexity of a hydraulic system, and that “plumbing” would not have to be routed all around the car. Regulators will need to confirm if Mr. Musk’s design choices comply with their safety requirements. Mr. Musk described the Cybercab as “basically a super comfortable lounge on wheels with a great TV and epic sound”. With upcoming Starlink integration, users would be able to watch 4k live video while riding in the Cybercab, he said. Switches under the touchscreen allow users to lower the windows. A cabin camera monitors the vehicle’s interior. A Tesla Cybercab promotional video showed passengers sleeping, watching movies, playing games, teaching children, holdings dogs, and handling conference calls while they were taking a ride. A major perk for loyal passengers is that their climate and media settings are saved in
23h ago · via thehindu.com
Eric Wu built and ran Opendoor, one of the more ambitious real estate startups of the last decade, before stepping away in 2022 after fast-rising interest rates abruptly slowed down home sales. He spent a year resetting — he’d been running the company for eight years at that point — and could have easily jumped into investing when he felt done with his hiatus. But like a lot of founders, he’s so convinced that AI will be the defining tech platform of his lifetime that he more recently decided instead to dive back into company building. As he told me during a call earlier this summer, “I knew if I looked back in 10 years and didn’t do something related to it, I’d probably regret that.” The opportunity Wu is chasing — building AI copilots for construction workers and other field laborers, something he describes as a hands-free expert coach for the people physically building things — isn’t exactly a secret. The construction industry is short workers by a wide margin. The trade group Associated Builders and Contractors has said roughly 349,000 additional workers would be needed this year just to keep pace with construction demand, a challenge that looks to worsen with workers getting older, workers getting shipped out of the United States owing to more aggressive U.S. immigration enforcement, and also the growing number of major projects being planned, specifically data centers. We’ve all heard now — from the entire AI industry — about the giant server farms that the AI boom demands. Those projects have grown enormous, and staffing demand has grown with them. Where a large data center campus once needed something like 750 workers at its peak, the biggest projects now require far more. Meta’s Hyperion campus in Richland Parish, Louisiana, for example, will reportedly
1d ago · via techcrunch.com
- Wang Naiyan has left to launch a physical AI venture, becoming the latest core tech talent from China's auto industry to enter the emerging field. - Former Xpeng and Li Auto executives have also moved into robotics, while Nio is backing Ren Shaoqing's startup as he retains his autonomous driving role. Xiaomi Auto's L3 autonomous driving technology lead, Wang Naiyan, has reportedly left to launch a physical AI venture, becoming the latest core technology talent from China's auto industry to enter the emerging field. Wang recently left Xiaomi and has been meeting frequently with investors to explore physical AI opportunities, 36Kr reported on Tuesday. 21jingji also reported today, citing multiple independent sources, that Wang has launched an embodied AI venture focused on robot brains and is seeking funding. Wang's team includes several former colleagues from TuSimple, now renamed CreateAI, and has more than 10 core researchers and engineers, an investor told 21jingji. Wang's move extends a migration of automotive autonomous driving talent into robotics and embodied AI. Former executives at Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) and Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) have joined companies in the field or launched startups, while the autonomous driving chief at Nio Inc (NYSE: NIO) is also pursuing an independent venture. The shift reflects efforts to apply perception, planning and reinforcement learning capabilities developed for autonomous driving to a broader range of tasks in the physical world. For automakers, it also means growing pressure to retain core AI talent. Wang holds a doctorate from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and spent 9 years at TuSimple's China operations, serving as chief technology officer for the China region from 2019, 36Kr noted. He joined Xiaomi Auto in May 2024 to lead autonomous driving technology development and L3 projects, reporting to Ye Hangjun, general manager of the
1d ago · via cnevpost.com
A Tesla was rolling west through Colorado’s mountains on Saturday when another motorist noticed something strange enough to call police. The person behind the wheel — and the passenger, no less — appeared to be asleep. Colorado State Patrol confirmed Monday that it received the unusual report of the Tesla traveling westbound on Interstate 70 near Georgetown. "Troopers were unable to locate the vehicle, and we did not contact it,” said Trooper Gabriel Moltrer of the Colorado State Patrol. He confirmed, “It is illegal to be asleep at the wheel.” Colorado may let the car do some of the work, but not enough for the human to take a nap. For Wyoming Tesla driver Eric Secrist, though, accidentally dozing off while the car does much of the driving isn’t hypothetical. Secrist drives Uber full time and said it has happened on the long drive home after longer trips, when he was tired and had Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” system engaged. The system is a partially automated driver-assist feature that still requires a fully attentive human driver. “I just accidentally doze off, and the car just continues driving safely, driving down the road,” he said. It didn’t let him stay asleep. “It sees you dozing off, and it does wake you up with general alarms,” Secrist said. No, You Can't Take A Nap Secrist happened to be driving from Cheyenne back home to Laramie when Cowboy State Daily reached him Monday. Or, as he put it: “Actually, right now my Tesla’s driving me back home.” Tesla calls its current system “Full Self-Driving (Supervised).” It can follow curves, negotiate intersections and roundabouts, make turns, change lanes and enter and exit highways, but Tesla is explicit about what that does not mean. “You are driving Model S at all times,” the company’s current
1d ago · via cowboystatedaily.com
On September 3, 2026, Tesla began charging fares for Cybercab rides in Austin, Texas. Federal regulators responded the same day. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened Audit Query AQ26002 covering roughly 1,000 Cybercabs — a formal examination of how Tesla declared a vehicle with no steering wheel, no pedals, and no mirrors compliant with U.S. safety standards written for traditional cars. The audit is not a recall, and NHTSA has not concluded the Cybercab is unsafe or illegally deployed. What regulators want to see is the paperwork and engineering data behind Tesla's compliance claim — specifically, which safety standards the company decided simply don't apply to a car built without the controls those standards assume every vehicle has. What Self-Certification Means, and Why It Matters Here Under U.S. law — 49 CFR Part 571 — automakers certify their own compliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. They build the vehicle, determine it meets every applicable FMVSS requirement, and bring it to market without advance NHTSA approval. The agency then audits that certification after the fact and can open defect investigations if the paperwork doesn't hold up. That system is what allowed Tesla to start commercial Cybercab service in Austin without waiting for a green light from Washington. The Cybercab carries no steering column, no brake pedal, no accelerator pedal, and no conventional mirrors. FMVSS rules cover all of those items — steering columns, brake pedals, mirrors, and more. Tesla's position is that the Cybercab complies with every standard that actually applies to a vehicle lacking those components. NHTSA's audit will determine whether that reasoning is legally and technically sound. In a statement, NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison put it plainly: "NHTSA fully supports the safe development and deployment of automated vehicles. But as the federal regulator, we need to ensure
1d ago · via topspeed.com
The United Nations rights chief voiced alarm Monday at reports of fully autonomous drones killing people in Ukraine, calling for an urgent ban on weapons that can kill without human involvement. Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council, Volker Turk said he was “horrified by reports that fully autonomous drones launched by the Russian Federation killed three Ukrainians last month”. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also highlighted reports that Ukraine had “field-tested such weapons”. The New York Times reported last month that a Russian drone guided entirely by an artificial intelligence system killed three civilians in Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine on July 6. The report found that while the drone had been programmed by human operators to travel towards a particular petrol station, it had chosen its exact target, likely propane tanks, without human intervention. There has been growing pressure from international organisations and NGOs to regulate so-called lethal autonomous weapons, often referred to as “killer robots”. Last month, UN chief Antonio Guterres and Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, issued a joint call to rein in such weapons, warning the world was “dangerously close to crossing a moral red line: the autonomous targeting of humans by machines”. “I join calls for the urgent prohibition of weapons that can take lives without human involvement,” Turk said Monday. After years of discussions, 128 countries agreed at the UN on Saturday on a definition of autonomous weapons, even as NGOs accused the United States and Russia especially of trying to weaken the agreed text. Countries are due to decide in November whether to launch full-on treaty negotiations on regulating autonomous weapons.
1d ago · via ctvnews.ca
Waymo And Zoox Robotaxi Test Drivers Left Injured From Self-Driving Cars It turns out that some autonomous cars are a little heavy on the brakes — to the point that it's causing injuries to test drivers. After looking at data supplied to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, TechCrunch found evidence of injuries from hard braking and sudden maneuvering, such as whiplash and sprains, suffered by test drivers working for Waymo and Zoox in 2024 and 2025. Transdev, which employs testers for Alphabet-owned Waymo, reported 11 injuries from 2025 in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, caused largely by aggressive braking. In one incident, a driver in Phoenix was unable to work for more than 150 days after an unexplained braking event. In at least two other incidents, hard braking occurred for no clear reason, raising the possibility that Waymo's autonomous-driving system may have incorrectly perceived an obstacle. Similarly, Zoox drivers described repeated abrupt braking events, sometimes triggered by non-existent road debris. In some cases, the vehicle stopped suddenly during a so-called "nogo" event, which involves a total shutdown of the autonomous systems in response to an internal issue. Responding to the findings, Waymo, which has been expanding its robotaxi fleet to major U.S. cities, said safety is its main priority and pointed to the tens of millions of miles driven with human operators as part of ongoing development work. Zoox, meanwhile, said it takes worker injuries seriously, while noting that braking hard is sometimes necessary. It added that the reported injuries were minimal compared to the millions of miles driven during fleet testing. Read more: 9 Cool Gadgets Every Motorcycle Rider Needs Deciding when to brake These incidents highlight the engineering challenge at the center of autonomous braking systems. Getting a vehicle to respond to hazards quickly while ensuring
1d ago · via autos.yahoo.com
Autonomous driving startup Wayve says its new robotaxi service which launched last week in the UK capital will be a key test of its machine learning system which attempts to teach cars how to drive rather than programming them to cope with every road they encounter. The London-based AI company began offering supervised autonomous rides through Uber on Thursday, putting its approach to the test on one of the world’s most complicated urban road networks. The service is initially small. Londoners requesting an UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort can be matched with one of Wayve’s electric Ford Mustang Mach-Es at no additional cost, with a trained, Transport for London-licensed driver remaining in the vehicle to supervise the system. However, the technology behind the cars points to a bigger shift in autonomous driving. Wayve’s AV2.0 system uses an approach known as ‘end-to-end machine learning‘. Rather than relying heavily on high-definition maps and hand-coded rules to determine how a vehicle should respond, the system is designed to learn from driving experience, translating information from its sensors into decisions about how to navigate. The company says that this makes it easier for machines to navigate things like roadworks, temporary speed restrictions, parked vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. That is a different proposition from earlier generations of autonomous driving technology, which relied more heavily on detailed maps, software rules and predefined operating conditions, requiring engineers to anticipate and programme responses to a wide range of scenarios. “Autonomous driving technology will complement the city’s rich transport network,” said Alex Kendall, Wayve’s co-founder and chief executive. Certainly, London, with its constantly changing roads and unpredictable traffic, is likely to provide an exacting testbed for Wayve’s driving model. The approach also reflects a broader shift in how the industry is thinking about autonomous driving. NVIDIA’s Alpamayo platform,
1d ago · via iotinsider.com
Robotaxi Competition Enters the Operations Era: Cao Cao Mobility Unveils Commercialization Path for Autonomous Fleets The competitive focus of the autonomous taxi (robotaxi) industry is shifting from "can the car drive itself" to "can the fleet make money on its own." Recently, Pony.ai, WeRide, and Baidu held earnings calls in succession, where analysts' questions moved beyond technology roadmaps to cost structures and commercial returns behind fleet expansion. Zhao Chenhui, CTO of Cao Cao Mobility's RoboX division, stated bluntly in an exclusive interview with Wallstreetcn: "To date, L4 single-vehicle intelligence has essentially achieved sustained operational capability in constrained scenarios. What every player needs to do now is evolve from single vehicles to fleets, solving fleet operations and commercialization." These remarks underscore a fundamental transformation underway in the industry. Over the past few years, the core challenge for robotaxi players was proving that autonomous driving systems could operate safely on open roads. Today, safety redundancy, remote assistance, recharging and maintenance, order dispatching, and per-vehicle economics are becoming capabilities as critical as the algorithms themselves. In other words, a vehicle that can complete autonomous driving within a designated area is merely the starting point for scaling. The real threshold lies in whether autonomous vehicles can be converted into safe, stable, and replicable transportation capacity. From Single-Vehicle Intelligence to Fleet Operations Zhao Chenhui believes that L4 single vehicles have essentially crossed the threshold of "can they drive," and the next problem to solve is whether autonomous fleets can continuously accept orders, recharge, undergo maintenance, and handle anomalies. Competition is thus extending from the autonomous vehicles themselves to the complete chain of vehicle manufacturing, order acquisition, and offline operations. Cao Cao Mobility's solution to this shift is called "RoboX." It expands the business from robotaxis to unmanned cargo vehicles (robovans) and connects different types of
1d ago · via finance.biggo.com
Waymo And Zoox Robotaxi Test Drivers Left Injured From Self-Driving Cars It turns out that some autonomous cars are a little heavy on the brakes — to the point that it's causing injuries to test drivers. After looking at data supplied to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, TechCrunch found evidence of injuries from hard braking and sudden maneuvering, such as whiplash and sprains, suffered by test drivers working for Waymo and Zoox in 2024 and 2025. Transdev, which employs testers for Alphabet-owned Waymo, reported 11 injuries from 2025 in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, caused largely by aggressive braking. In one incident, a driver in Phoenix was unable to work for more than 150 days after an unexplained braking event. In at least two other incidents, hard braking occurred for no clear reason, raising the possibility that Waymo's autonomous-driving system may have incorrectly perceived an obstacle. Similarly, Zoox drivers described repeated abrupt braking events, sometimes triggered by non-existent road debris. In some cases, the vehicle stopped suddenly during a so-called "nogo" event, which involves a total shutdown of the autonomous systems in response to an internal issue. Responding to the findings, Waymo, which has been expanding its robotaxi fleet to major U.S. cities, said safety is its main priority and pointed to the tens of millions of miles driven with human operators as part of ongoing development work. Zoox, meanwhile, said it takes worker injuries seriously, while noting that braking hard is sometimes necessary. It added that the reported injuries were minimal compared to the millions of miles driven during fleet testing. Deciding when to brake These incidents highlight the engineering challenge at the center of autonomous braking systems. Getting a vehicle to respond to hazards quickly while ensuring the decisions are accurate, controlled, and safe for occupants
1d ago · via bgr.com
Goldman Sachs Delivers Stark Message on Tesla Stock
Tesla TSLA could gain a cost advantage in the robotaxi market through its Cybercab, but Goldman Sachs says software performance will be more important to the business case.
Tesla began robotaxi rides with Cybercab following its Sept. 3 event in Austin and said its vehicles had completed 1 million miles without active driver control. Goldman estimates a scaled Cybercab costing $20,000 to $30,000 could have a per-mile advantage of five to 30 cents versus rival autonomous vehicles priced at $50,000 to $100,000.
The bigger question is whether Tesla can expand its autonomous-driving system across more markets. A wider network could increase vehicle utilization and allow software economics to play a larger role in profitability.
Goldman maintained a Neutral rating with a $360 price target. The firm sees potential upside toward $500, while its downside case is about $150.
Robotaxi scaling and autonomous software execution remain key factors behind Tesla's valuation.
1d ago · via tradingview.com
- Waymo and Zoox expansion news at a glance - Why does Waymo's three-city launch matter? - Waymo's scale advantage is becoming measurable - Zoox has crossed from demonstration to paid service - Waymo vs Zoox vs Tesla: Who is leading the U.S. robotaxi race? - The five numbers that will decide the robotaxi winner - What Waymo's $126 billion valuation implies? - What Zoox means for Amazon stock? - Could robotaxis hurt Uber and Lyft? - Robotaxi safety is both a social issue and a financial metric - Key risks investors should not ignore - What investors should watch next? - Analyst view: Waymo leads, but the business model has not finished the race The U.S. robotaxi race has entered a more serious phase. Waymo is a company owned by Alphabet that develops and operates self-driving cars for passenger rides. It is no longer just proving that a driverless car can complete a carefully selected trip. It is trying to build a large autonomous ride network across 14 cities. Zoox is Amazon's self-driving car company. It has crossed a different but equally important threshold: its purpose-built robotaxi can now charge passengers in Las Vegas and serve airport trips while the company prepares to enter two more major markets. The investment question is therefore shifting from, "Can the technology work?" to, "Can these companies operate enough vehicles at high enough utilisation to justify the money already being spent and the valuations investors are assigning?" Let's break down what Waymo and Zoox announced, how far each company has progressed, what the economics may look like and which U.S. stocks give investors exposure to the autonomous driving race. Waymo and Zoox expansion news at a glance | Development | Waymo | Zoox | | Latest expansion | Began admitting public riders in
1d ago · via indmoney.com
Nutson's Weekly Auto News Wrapup September 6, 2026 | | The Auto Channel — Trusted automotive reporting for 32 years. This article is part of The Auto Channel’s independent automotive coverage library — one of the longest-running automotive publications online (since 1995). Our editors test, research, and document vehicles, technologies, recalls, and ownership experiences to help drivers make informed decisions. Unlike short news blurbs, our content is written for long-term usefulness — explaining what the vehicle is, why it matters, and how it affects real owners. Coverage includes reviews, specifications, safety data, recall history, industry context, and real-world driving impressions collected over decades of reporting. | | | | LEARN MORE FROM THE WEB'S LONGEST RUNNING AUTOMOTIVE COLUMN Here are Larry’s Top Auto Story Picks of the Week of August 31 - September 6, 2026. Larry picked these as important, relevant, interesting, and sometimes semi-secret stories you need to know—served up as snappy, opinionated, and insider-sharp. These are expertly crafted, easy-to-understand news nuggets that cut through the noise and get right to what matters to you in the automotive world. * Gas and Diesel prices. 2026 is on track to be the most expensive year for diesel in U.S. history. the YTD average sits at $4.85/gal per GasBuddy data, with the current average at $5.58. by late September, 2026 will likely surpass 2022's full-year average. If you're driving to your Labor Day destination, prepare to pay more money at the pump. Gasbuddy is predicting that drivers will pay approximately 87 cents more per gallon compared to last year. * What do you think? Uber president and COO Andrew Macdonald predicts that in two decades, most people will get around by bike, scooter, public transit, or autonomous vehicle. "In some future world, maybe not five years, but 15 or 20 years,
1d ago · via theautochannel.com
Kakao Mobility presented a vision that, to commercialize Autonomous Driving, it is necessary to build an ecosystem that spans services and urban infrastructure beyond vehicles and driving technology. The strategy is to move away from competition over the Autonomous Driving performance of individual vehicles and secure service operations optimized for urban environments. Ryu Geung-seon, CEO of Kakao Mobility, stated accordingly in a keynote speech titled "Bringing Autonomous Driving technology into everyday travel" at the 2026 Global Mobility Conference held on the 7th. The Global Mobility Conference is co-hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority (TS), and the International Transport Forum (ITF) under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Kakao Mobility, Waymo, and Nvidia participated as keynote speakers. Ryu emphasized that the commercialization of Autonomous Driving should not be limited to applying new technology to existing modes of transportation. Autonomous Driving must expand from driving technology to services and then to urban infrastructure for it to truly take root in citizens' daily lives. He said, "New technology should not be the preserve of a few but be for all users," and added, "We need to make technology reach directly into people's daily lives." Kakao Mobility is pushing to make Autonomous Driving services part of everyday life by combining its in-house Autonomous Driving technology with its experience operating a platform 24 hours a day. According to the company, 97% of users of the late-night Autonomous Driving service in Gangnam used the existing Kakao T app without installing a separate application (app). Fleet utilization reached 82.5%. Ryu argued that, in step with the spread of Autonomous Driving, urban infrastructure and the transportation ecosystem must change together. Just as roads, traffic lights, and crosswalks were built when the primary mode of travel shifted from walking
1d ago · via biz.chosun.com
▲ Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Geung-sun delivering a keynote speech at the Global Mobility Conference Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Geung-sun emphasized that to commercialize autonomous driving, cities need to design city-wide operating systems alongside vehicle technology. In his keynote speech at the 2026 Global Mobility Conference co-hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority (TS), and the International Transport Forum (ITF) under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) today (Sept. 7), CEO Ryu stated, "Autonomous vehicles drive alone, but autonomous driving services must be built together." Ryu diagnosed that the commercialization of autonomous driving goes beyond applying driving technology to existing vehicles, marking a massive shift that transforms services and urban infrastructure as well. He suggested, "Even with the same technology, changing the city introduces a different 10 percent of challenges," adding, "The evaluation criteria for autonomous driving services should shift from how well a single car drives to how hundreds of them are operated within a city." Separately, Kakao Mobility revealed that 97 percent of users of its late-night autonomous driving service in Gangnam used the existing Kakao T app without installing a separate application. The company also explained that the vehicle utilization rate recorded 82.5 percent. Amid the major transition period toward the commercialization of autonomous driving, Ryu repeatedly emphasized that, just as roads, traffic lights, and crosswalks were established to match vehicle adoption, urban spaces, infrastructure, and safety rules must evolve together in the era of autonomous driving. He continued, "Based on our mobility technology development experience and platform operation capabilities accumulated over the past decade, we will contribute to making autonomous driving a daily transportation service through public-private cooperation." Additionally, Kakao Mobility shared that it has internalized core technologies such as high-precision maps and integrated AI models while
1d ago · via news.sbs.co.kr
▲ Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Geung-sun delivering a keynote speech at the Global Mobility Conference Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Geung-sun emphasized that to commercialize autonomous driving, cities need to design city-wide operating systems alongside vehicle technology. In his keynote speech at the 2026 Global Mobility Conference co-hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority (TS), and the International Transport Forum (ITF) under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) today (Sept. 7), CEO Ryu stated, "Autonomous vehicles drive alone, but autonomous driving services must be built together." Ryu diagnosed that the commercialization of autonomous driving goes beyond applying driving technology to existing vehicles, marking a massive shift that transforms services and urban infrastructure as well. He suggested, "Even with the same technology, changing the city introduces a different 10 percent of challenges," adding, "The evaluation criteria for autonomous driving services should shift from how well a single car drives to how hundreds of them are operated within a city." Separately, Kakao Mobility revealed that 97 percent of users of its late-night autonomous driving service in Gangnam used the existing Kakao T app without installing a separate application. The company also explained that the vehicle utilization rate recorded 82.5 percent. Amid the major transition period toward the commercialization of autonomous driving, Ryu repeatedly emphasized that, just as roads, traffic lights, and crosswalks were established to match vehicle adoption, urban spaces, infrastructure, and safety rules must evolve together in the era of autonomous driving. He continued, "Based on our mobility technology development experience and platform operation capabilities accumulated over the past decade, we will contribute to making autonomous driving a daily transportation service through public-private cooperation." Additionally, Kakao Mobility shared that it has internalized core technologies such as high-precision maps and integrated AI models while
1d ago · via news.sbs.co.kr
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened a formal investigation into Tesla’s self-certification that its Cybercab autonomous vehicle meets federal safety standards, following commercial deployment of the model as a driverless robotaxi in Austin, Texas. The audit query will examine whether Tesla’s compliance framework adequately covers a vehicle designed without conventional human controls. Under the US regulatory framework, automakers self-certify compliance with federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS), subject to agency oversight. The Cybercab entered commercial service in Austin without a steering wheel, brake pedal, or other conventional driver controls, raising questions about which existing requirements apply and how Tesla evidenced adherence to them. NHTSA has begun work on eight rulemakings intended to adapt existing standards for autonomous vehicles, covering areas including lighting, rearview mirrors, and windshield wipers. Those revisions remain incomplete, and current FMVSS requirements, many drafted for human-operated vehicles, continue to apply. In a statement, Jonathan Morrison, NHTSA Administrator, said: “NHTSA fully supports the safe development and deployment of automated vehicles. But as the federal regulator, we need to ensure that all of our laws are followed. Our approach of balancing innovation with safety oversight will allow the United States to maintain its global leadership in AV innovation.” Source: NHTSA
1d ago · via automotiveworld.com
Alibaba’s Qwen team has released Qwen-Drive-1.0-4B, an open-source model that combines driving-scene understanding with planning a vehicle’s movements. Developed with Huazhong University of Science and Technology, it uses Qwen3.5-4B as its vision-language foundation and adds separate components for 3D perception and generating driving trajectories.
The release includes two versions of the planning component: one trained to imitate driving examples and another further optimized through reinforcement learning. Both use the same underlying vision-language model, which retains its original architecture and ability to answer visual questions. The project provides code, model weights and demo data under the Apache 2.0 license. [Qwen]
1d ago · via technode.com
Ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing to apply to test driverless vehicles in Hong Kong
Government adviser says mainland Chinese company plans Tseung Kwan O pilot project, with room to expand if business model proves viable
The announcement followed a visit to Didi’s Beijing headquarters last Wednesday by Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan and a group of lawmakers.
Gary Zhang Xinyu, a member of the Transport Department’s working group for promoting autonomous vehicle applications, said on Monday that the company would apply for an autonomous vehicle pilot licence in Hong Kong this year, with initial trial runs planned for Tseung Kwan O.
“Tseung Kwan O itself is large and diverse – the town centre, Lohas Park and the industrial estate all have different road conditions,” he told a radio programme.
“The industrial estate is a more suitable place to start because the roads are wider, the traffic volume is lower, and the overall environment is relatively simple.”
Didi is also recruiting autonomous vehicle test drivers for Tseung Kwan O roles at HK$21,000 to HK$22,000 (US$2,678 to US$2,805) a month, according to a job posting.
1d ago · via scmp.com