Autonomous driving has reached the point where the question is no longer whether the technology can work. The harder question is whether it can work safely, reliably, and affordably—in real cities, with real passengers, on real ride-hailing networks. That is the frontier Laura Major is working to cross. As President and CEO of Motional, Major is leading one of the most difficult transitions in mobility: moving Level 4 autonomous vehicles from development programs into commercial operation. Her career has been built around human-autonomy interaction and advanced autonomous systems across space, air, ground, and sea. At Motional, that experience now converges on one mission: turning autonomous-driving technology into a system passengers, cities, communities, and ride-hailing partners can trust. From her perspective, autonomy is not finished when it works in controlled environments. It is finished when it performs safely and predictably on public roads. Laura Major’s career has been defined by one central question: how humans and autonomous systems learn to work together. That focus began at Georgia Tech and MIT, where she earned a Master of Science degree, and continued at Draper Laboratory, where she led teams developing advanced autonomous solutions across space, air, ground, and sea. The work was never confined to one type of machine. Major helped develop new capabilities for special operators conducting advanced battlefield missions. She later became CTO of Aria Insights, where she worked on unmanned aerial vehicles for indoor inspection. Her path then led to Aptiv, where she took on the CTO role and helped form the joint venture that established Motional. At Motional, she continued as CTO, leading the delivery of the company’s first-generation autonomous-driving system. After five years in that role—and after delivering Motional’s second-generation autonomous system and integrating it with Hyundai Motor Group for the IONIQ 5 robotaxi, including pilot deployments with
Jul 21, 2026 · via hyundaimotorgroup.com
CoSpire Café, a Community Inclusion and Development Alliance (CIDA) project, opened its doors in Bayside at 36-28 Bell Blvd. on Saturday, June 27. CIDA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing access to various programs and services to adults with disabilities and their families. In 2022, they created a job readiness program to provide skill-building opportunities to participants, and CoSpire Café is the newest component of that program. It is a fully licensed food service business, allowing employees to gain experience in an environment similar to other restaurants. Offerings include various kinds of coffee, fresh pastries and cookies. Previously, the same space was utilized by CIDA’s job readiness program as an environment to practice retail scenarios, but this past year, they took the step to transition into a New York City restaurant, executive director of CIDA Young Seh Bae explained. This move allows CIDA to give participants more hands-on, tangible experiences that they can transfer to the job market. “We teach multiple skills related to jobs they can find in the community. That’s how we begin,” Bae said. At CoSpire Café, they aim to train a cohort of 25 students each year, providing adults with disabilities the chance to enter the job market when they are otherwise disregarded by many employers. Bae explained, “Some of the individuals with significant disabilities graduate high school without a diploma. That creates a lot of problems for this individual finding a job. So that’s one of the core reasons that we wanted to have our own program. We know the challenges and barriers.” CoSpire Café gives participants the opportunity to grow in an inclusive, accepting space. Among the skills they learn are serving customers, cleaning and sales techniques, all of which help them to ultimately work independently. Bae clarified that the purpose of CoSpire
Jul 20, 2026 · via qns.com
Abstract Manual examination using imitative assessment methods requires considerable investment in time, effort, resources, and funds. Furthermore, these assessments often exhibit inconsistencies. Therefore, this study introduces a framework for accurately detecting and classifying vehicle damage and estimating repair costs using deep learning and machine learning approaches. In this study, YOLOv5 and YOLOv8 models were applied to detect and classify vehicle damage types, such as broken lamps, glass shatters, cracks, scratches, and dents. Repair costs were predicted using the XGBoost machine learning model. The dataset used for damage detection, classification, and cost prediction was created from scratch. It was developed by identifying the types of damage and generating bounding box coordinates around damaged areas. After extracting the bounding box coordinates and damage types, additional features were incorporated. The YOLOv8 model outperformed YOLOv5 in both detecting and classifying vehicle damage, achieving a precision of 87% on the validation dataset and mean absolute precision 90.7% on the test dataset. The XGBoost model achieved an R² score of 97.28% and a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) of 128.50. These results confirm that the proposed framework enhances the precision of vehicle damage detection and classification while accelerating assessment and ensuring its effectiveness in real-world scenarios. Similar content being viewed by others Introduction The automotive industry has become crucial, and its importance has increased. Consequently, the demand for modern systems for these industries has increased, and this trend is evident in autonomous driving and inspection systems. One of the areas that has gained significant importance is the systems used to classify, detect, and locate damage for evaluation. All these systems aim primarily to facilitate inspection processes, reduce errors caused by traditional manual evaluation, and reduce inspection time1,2. Despite the rise of modern systems for detecting and classifying damage, traditional manual inspection remains prevalent in insurance companies and
Jul 20, 2026 · via nature.com
This story was originally published on WardsAuto. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily WardsAuto newsletter. With ever-increasing dependence on artificial intelligence for automated driving functions, it's a mistake to think "mapless" systems are the way forward. That's the view of Here Technologies' head of automotive solutions, Remco Timmer, who reverses this view by asking, "Can AI-powered autonomous technology be trusted without a continuously updated understanding of the road ahead?" Speaking with WardsAuto in an online interview, Timmer believes the future of automated driving is not mapless but "map-smart." "There's no point-to-point autonomous driving if you wouldn't know your next destination and if you wouldn't have a route," Timmer said. The minimum necessary for automated driving is a navigable route, he explained, with awareness of the road's rules and regulations, speed limits on those routes and a lot of those things that are not signposted have to come from maps, because they are invisible to the vehicle's sensors. "Autonomy is going to play an important role in urbanized worlds where, for a big percentage of the time, the field of view of the of the sensors, whether it's cameras, radar or lidar, is obstructed by the other road users," said Timmer. "So, it's actually super helpful to be able to plan ahead, do path planning to position yourself on the road and which lanes are going to go in which direction across intersections and at exits," he added. This is referred to as a "continuous lane model," according to Timmer, which allows an understanding of how many lanes are available and how they transition to off-ramps or on ramps. However, even so-called mapless autonomous driving systems, that claim to no longer require the high-definition part of the map, does not mean they are truly mapless. "I
Jul 20, 2026 · via autos.yahoo.com
A new study out Monday found that autonomous robotaxis in New York City would likely be 1.5 times more likely to cause traffic crashes resulting in deaths and serious injuries, per one million miles driven, than the human for-hire vehicle drivers they could replace, while also leading to more gridlock on city streets.
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Jul 20, 2026 · via politicsny.com
A new study out Monday found that autonomous robotaxis in New York City would likely be 1.5 times more likely to cause traffic crashes resulting in deaths and serious injuries, per one million miles driven, than the human for-hire vehicle drivers they could replace, while also leading to more gridlock on city streets. The report seeks to understand how robotaxis — also known as for-hire autonomous vehicles (AVs) — would impact human for-hire-vehicle drivers who could be replaced by them as well as traffic patterns across the five boroughs. Traffic wiz Sam Schwartz’s Hunter College research program and the advocacy group Open Plans, the study’s authors, set out to challenge the pitch from AV companies, like Waymo and Tesla, that the driverless vehicles will make city streets safer and less congested. “We felt like there’s a lot of conversation about Waymo and their safety record and how they would make transportation better in New York City, and we wanted to just examine that from a data perspective,” said Open Plans Executive Director Sara Lind in an interview. The city had been piloting Waymo’s robotaxis, with trained drivers behind the wheel, in Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. However, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration declined to renew the program, which had been launched by his predecessor Eric Adams last year, when it expired in March 2026. Kelly McGuinness, director of the Sam Schwartz Transportation Research Program, said that, in particular, they wanted to look at whether robotaxis would make city streets safer before introducing them here. “We really wanted to dig into the safety question before Waymos are deployed in New York City,” she said. What the robotaxi study concluded for NYC The study compares data released by Waymo, on its operations around the country dating back to its 2020 launch, to that
Jul 20, 2026 · via amny.com
Road safety directly impacts insurance premiums, liability exposure, and infrastructure spending across the U.S.—yet fatality rates resisted improvement for years. The automotive industry faced regulatory pressure over annual deaths, spurring advances in vehicle safety features. Road design also shifted, with changes to intersections and street layouts showing measurable impact. But the real question is whether those efforts are actually working. New traffic data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the U.S. Department of Transportation reveals they are. Recent studies show a clear downward trend in fatalities. Technology embedded in vehicles, autonomous systems coming online, and smarter road infrastructure are all factors that are impacting road safety. Triumph Law Group, a personal injury law firm in Phoenix, unpacks what the data actually shows and where the safety improvements are coming from. Triumph Law Group Road Accident Statistics Unpacked Annual figures on traffic safety are produced by the NHTSA and DOT. While the driving data for 2025 is still a statistical projection rather than containing final, firm numbers, the trend toward fewer fatalities is clear. Specifically, it's estimated that deaths from auto collisions fell 6.7% year on year, from just over 39,000 in 2024 to 36,640 last year. Q4 of 2025 was the 15th consecutive quarter in which a decline in fatalities was recorded, and researchers are confident that this trend represents a rebalancing of road safety following the unexpected disruption associated with the pandemic. So, while we’re not yet at historic lows, there’s clear, continuous movement in the right direction. To further cement the improving safety conditions, the report estimates that for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) on U.S. roads, just 1.10 fatalities occur. That’s a decline from the 1.19 fatalities per 100 million VMT calculated in 2024. Only one other year in the history of recording
Jul 20, 2026 · via wpxi.com
| China | | China's policy-industry synergy powers AI for inclusive growth | | | | | | As the first light spread across an orchard on the outskirts of Wuhan in central China, Zhang Shuwang loaded crates of freshly picked fruit onto a small autonomous delivery van. After scanning a QR code with his customers' addresses, he stepped back and watched as the vehicle quietly made its way down a country road. Developed by Zelostech, the van uses real-time sensing and artificial intelligence (AI) to navigate without relying on costly high-definition maps, making autonomous deliveries feasible even in remote rural areas. For years, getting fruit to market was Zhang's biggest headache. The nearest wholesale market is about 60 kilometers away, and truck drivers were often reluctant to make the trip. At best, he could make one delivery a day. Sometimes the fruit spoiled before it ever left the orchard. That changed last year, when Zhang's son suggested he try the robovan. "Within a month, I saw the difference," Zhang said. "Now the fruit we pick in the early morning reaches customers the very same day. On busy mornings, the van can make three to four trips, and my annual income has gone up by at least 30 to 40 percent." Zhang is one of a growing number of ordinary people in China who are benefiting from AI as the technology spreads beyond big cities and large corporations to improve the lives of farmers, doctors and small business owners. That shift is also the backdrop to the 2026 World AI Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, which opened in Shanghai on Friday. Inside the exhibition halls, visitors crowd around Huawei's latest AI computing supernode system Atlas 950; Kimi K3, the world's largest open-source model with 2.8 trillion
Jul 20, 2026 · via bjreview.com
Zoox issues recall after robotaxi drives through heavy smoke in Las Vegas LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — Zoox issued a software recall after one of its robotaxis drove through heavy smoke at an emergency scene in Las Vegas. The Amazon subsidiary told federal regulators that an unoccupied autonomous vehicle encountered the smoke at an active fire scene on June 20. The incident happened in Las Vegas, a source with knowledge of the recall told News 3. No cones were set up, and the vehicle entered the scene before braking hard while trying to steer away. It came to a stop, and with a teleguidance tactician's guidance, the vehicle went into reverse. First responders then set up cones to block two lanes. Zoox said it investigated the root cause and developed a software update to better detect and respond to heavy smoke. The updated software was released on July 15 to all 105 affected Zoox vehicles. "Based on the conducted review and analysis, this is the only event of this kind that Zoox has experienced," states the report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Rides with Zoox's fleet of robotaxis are currently available in Las Vegas and San Francisco. Earlier this month, NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison called on autonomous vehicle developers to focus their resources on improving interactions with first responders. "To state it bluntly: an AV that cannot safely interact with first responders is a danger to the general public," Morrison wrote. A Zoox spokesperson provided News 3 with the following statement: "Zoox has submitted a voluntary software recall notice to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) following an internal review of a June event, in which an unoccupied Zoox vehicle entered an active fire scene obscured by heavy smoke that had not yet been marked off
Jul 20, 2026 · via news3lv.com
On the road to autonomous vehicles Dear Editor, The future of Jamaican transportation is shifting like sunlight over the Blue Mountains — gradual, golden, and brimming with possibility. Beneath the asphalt of progress and the hum of innovation lies a quiet revolution, driven not by wheels alone, but by signals from the stars. As satellite broadband unfurls across land and sea and roadways are reimagined through ambitious projects like the Shared Prosperity through Accelerated Improvement to our Road Network (SPARK) Programme, Jamaica inches closer to a dream once thought distant — self-driving vehicles. Whereas connectivity once faded into the misty hills and ocean spray, new players like Starlink and Amber Group now beam signals from the heavens. Their mini-satellites orbit silently, weaving a digital net that links cars, boats, and devices even in the island’s most hidden corners. Amber Group CEO Dushyant Savadia sees this clearly: vehicles that glide through valleys and cruise across coastlines without losing signal, no longer tethered by fragile terrestrial networks. For a country long beset by patchy rural coverage, this marks a pivotal moment. With motor vehicle theft approaching $1 billion in value by March 2025, real-time tracking and remote security through satellite broadband offer powerful shields. As ReadyNet and other satellite providers join the fray, the idea of autonomous vehicles begins to shimmer on the horizon. Self-driving cars, once the stuff of science fiction, could soon whisper across Jamaican roads, drawing guidance from cloud-based intelligence. Satellite broadband might not yet provide perfect latency, but it lays the groundwork. Still, no smart car can drive where roads crumble or vanish. Enter the SPARK; a sweeping effort to renew Jamaica’s roads, not just with fresh asphalt, but with purpose. It envisions highways designed for tomorrow, detailed with maps, marked with precision, and managed in partnership with
Jul 20, 2026 · via jamaicaobserver.com
Amazon.com Inc’s driverless-car business issued a software recall across its fleet after one of its robotaxis struggled to navigate through heavy smoke, the latest in a string of incidents involving autonomous vehicles at emergency scenes. Zoox released a software update for all 105 vehicles operating on public roads, according to a document published on July 17 on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) website. The move affects the company’s purpose-built robotaxis and not a separate testing fleet of retrofitted vehicles. The voluntary recall stems from an incident on June 20, when an unoccupied Zoox vehicle approached the scene of a fire that was obscured by heavy smoke, braking hard while attempting to steer away before coming to a stop, according to the document. Later, first responders placed traffic cones at the scene, blocking two of the three through-lanes. No one was injured, and Zoox said it’s not aware of any other instances of this kind. In a statement to Bloomberg, the company said the software update "enhances the existing capability of detecting active EV scenes by adding the ability to detect and respond to heavy smoke in certain situations.” A series of AV safety mishaps has put a spotlight on how self-driving cars sometimes struggle to handle situations human drivers commonly encounter. Alphabet Inc’s Waymo – the leading operator of paid robotaxi rides in the US – recently recalled thousands of vehicles and suspended freeway operations after its cars drove through construction zones at speed. The company has also faced scrutiny after its vehicles sometimes failed to slow or stop for school buses. NHTSA is working to develop new safety requirements governing how autonomous vehicles behave on the road. Administrator Jonathan Morrison told Bloomberg in an interview this week that the agency aims to finalise the new requirements before
Jul 20, 2026 · via thestar.com.my
Authors: Avinash Singh, Sunita Singh Download free PDF Asia Pacific Autonomous Forklift Market Size & Share 2026-2035 Report ID: GMI16369 | Published Date: July 2026 | Report Format: PDF/Excel/Dashboard/Platform Download Free PDF Explore Our Licensing Options: Jump to Content Market Size Market Trends Market Analysis Market Share Market Companies Industry News Table of Contents Frequently Asked Questions Research Methodology Related Reports Download Free PDF Asia Pacific Autonomous Forklift Market Get a free sample of this report Get a free sample of this report Asia Pacific Autonomous Forklift Market Is your requirement urgent? Please give us your business email for a speedy delivery! Asia Pacific Autonomous Forklift Market Size The Asia Pacific autonomous forklift market was valued at USD 1.8 billion in 2025, reflecting the region's rapid progression from semi-automated materials handling toward fully integrated, sensor-driven intralogistics systems across warehouse, manufacturing, and distribution environments. The market is projected to reach USD 8.2 billion by 2035, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8% over the forecast period of 2026â2035, according to the latest report published by Global Market Insights Inc. Asia Pacific Autonomous Forklift Market Key Takeaways Market Leader: Toyota Industries Corporation led with over 17% market share in 2025. Leading Players: Top 5 players in this market include Toyota Industries Corporation, Mitsubishi Logisnext Co., Ltd., Kion Group AG / Linde Material Handling, Hikrobot Technology Co., Ltd., SIASUN Robot & Automation Co., Ltd., which collectively held a market share of 36% in 2025. The early-year estimate of USD 2.2 billion in 2026 confirms that adoption is already accelerating at the front end of the forecast window, grounded in structural demand rather than cyclical momentum. The convergence of labour scarcity, e-commerce volume growth, and government-backed smart manufacturing programs is elevating autonomous material handling from an operational experiment to a capital
Jul 20, 2026 · via gminsights.com
US woman with 2025 Tesla Legacy Model Y turns on Full Self Driving while passenger has no idea it exists and her reaction is priceless Published on Jul 20, 2026 at 8:04 AM (UTC+4) by Alessandro Renesis Last updated on Jul 20, 2026 at 8:04 AM (UTC+4) Edited by Mason Jones This Tesla owner took a passenger for a drive in her Model Y without actually telling her about FSD. The system came as a shock for two reasons. But, to her credit, the passenger realized quite quickly why so many people love it. But there are a couple of things we need to address. There are a couple of misconceptions surrounding Tesla FSD The main misconception regarding FSD is a bit more technical, and most people won’t even notice. Autonomous cars are categorized across four or six levels depending on how you count them. Level 0 is zero electronic aids, which is impossible in a modern car, and Level 5 is full autonomy with no human intervention or override. That’s the theory. In practice, most people agree the true range is between Level 1, little to no autonomy with things like ABS or traction control, and Level 4, which is de-facto full autonomy like Waymo. A lot of people might assume that Tesla’s FSD must be Level 4 but it isn’t, it’s actually Level 2. That doesn’t make a practical difference, but it’s better for Tesla for liability reasons. However, when they introduced Robotaxi, they had to categorize it as Level 4 to compete with Waymo. The second caveat is geo-targeted FSD is only available in select markets for legal reasons, because it needs to be approved by relevant authorities – both regional and local. As a result, the one you get in the US – the one that
Jul 20, 2026 · via supercarblondie.com
UrbanMatrix Technologies Showcases at WAIC: From Navigation to Data Collection, Completing the Critical Link for Embodied AI Implementation In July 2026, at the WAIC in Shanghai. Stepping into the Embodied Intelligence Exhibition Zone, a subtle atmosphere mixed with anxiety and fanaticism permeated the entire pavilion. At the WAIC two years ago, only 18 enterprises ventured into this field; last year, the number had soared to 80; and this year, the number of exhibitors has quietly exceeded 200. Behind this growth rate faster than Moore's Law, not only are various end players shining brilliantly; as the architectural dividends of model algorithms hit a phased bottleneck, data Infra supply chain players that were once hidden deep underwater, represented by Aegis Technology, have also begun to step into the spotlight. I. How Data Became the Achilles' Heel of Embodied Intelligence To understand the importance of data to embodied intelligence, autonomous driving is the best mirror. If we break down embodied intelligence into different segments, autonomous driving is actually just a specific sub-task within the embodied intelligence landscape. Yet even giants like Tesla and a host of Chinese new-energy vehicle startups, despite millions of user data points continuously uploaded to the cloud and nearly a decade of relentless focus, still tread carefully when facing all kinds of bizarre corner cases. The scenarios faced by embodied intelligence are more than an order of magnitude more complex than those of autonomous driving: The first layer is the geometric dimensional upgrade from 2D to 3D: cars only need to handle movement on the X-Y plane, while the hand-eye coordination of robots operates in a fully open three-dimensional space. The second layer is the exponential explosion of degrees of freedom: cars only have a steering wheel, accelerator and brake, while humanoid robots often have dozens of degrees of
Jul 20, 2026 · via eu.36kr.com
As physical artificial intelligence (AI) becomes capable of operating in real-world environments, ensuring cybersecurity from the vehicle design stage is becoming increasingly critical, according to Song Jong-hyuk, head of the Automotive Security Threat Research Institute at Autocrypt. Autocrypt is an AI mobility cybersecurity company established in 2019 through the spin-off of the automotive security business unit of Pentasecurity. The company provides in-vehicle software security, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) technologies, and automotive cybersecurity solutions. Physical AI refers to AI models capable of perceiving, making decisions, and controlling physical devices such as vehicles and robots. Put simply, it enables AI to move beyond software and interact directly with the physical world. As software-defined vehicles (SDVs) become central to the automotive industry and physical AI emerges as a key technology trend, automotive cybersecurity is expanding beyond vehicles themselves to encompass cloud platforms and road infrastructure. Leveraging expertise accumulated through autonomous driving security, Autocrypt is broadening its business into the physical AI sector. "Security policies must be properly incorporated from vehicle design through the development process, and we are building an architecture that integrates security technologies across the entire infrastructure, including communications between servers and roadside equipment," Song said. "The goal is to apply security throughout the entire lifecycle so that physical AI can operate safely in the real world." In physical AI environments, cyberattacks targeting sensor data or remote control commands could directly result in accidents. Song said preventing such incidents requires security specifications to be incorporated from the earliest stages of development and integrated protection across in-vehicle systems, cloud platforms, and roadside infrastructure. One of the organizations under Song's leadership is the company's Red Team, which systematically identifies vulnerabilities in automotive cybersecurity systems by examining external attack paths into vehicles. "The Red Team's highest priority is to identify external entry points that attackers could
Jul 20, 2026 · via thelec.net
Waymo really wants to operate in D.C. But does D.C. want Waymo?
Liam Scot
The Washington Post
July 19, 2026, 6:27 p.m. ET
Washington was, once, a national pioneer in autonomous vehicle policy. That was back in 2012, when the D.C. Council passed one of the country’s first pieces of legislation outlining protocols for driverless cars.
Then the capital fell behind.
Jul 19, 2026 · via detroitnews.com
In connected car news are FocalPoint, STMicroelectronics, LightPath Technologies, Lyft, Curb, Uber, Delivery Hero, Ford, BMW, OpenAI, HERE Technologies, Esri, Honda, Google, MicroVision, Luminar Technologies & Bosch. In this Article FocalPoint and STMicroelectronics Commercialize Software-Defined GNSS for Automotive ADAS FocalPoint Positioning has finalized a commercial agreement with STMicroelectronics to integrate its S-GNSS Auto software architecture into the ST Teseo hardware platform. The deployment transitions an initial collaboration established in May 2025 into a commercialized firmware upgrade designed for automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. The integrated solution is engineered to mitigate positioning degradation within dense urban canyons and under heavy foliage by targeting multipath interference and signal reflection challenges common to standard global navigation satellite systems. The joint architecture relies on FocalPoint’s proprietary Supercorrelation technology running directly on the open programmable platform of STMicroelectronics’ Teseo V and Teseo VI chipsets. Global field testing demonstrated that the firmware-enhanced Teseo receivers outperform standard commercial-grade positioning systems under degraded signal conditions. The development roadmap also incorporates FocalPoint’s Precise+ technology, aiming to achieve sustained sub-meter accuracy to meet the localization constraints required for advanced driver assistance systems and vehicle-to-everything communications. The commercial roll-out targets immediate integration within active and next-generation OEM vehicle architectures. Evaluation kits combining the S-GNSS Auto software stack with Teseo V and Teseo VI silicon are currently available for ecosystem validation. Through this commercial framework, FocalPoint has also achieved status as an ST Authorized Partner, facilitating the long-term convergence of software-defined positioning logic with automotive-grade telematics and autonomy hardware. LightPath Technologies Secures Eleven Million Dollar Follow-on Infrared Camera Order for C-UAS Applications LightPath Technologies, Inc. has received an 11 million dollar follow-on purchase order for infrared cameras from a leading global technology customer, targeted for counter-unmanned aerial systems applications. The contract reinforces the defense contractor’s position in the public safety and
Jul 19, 2026 · via autoconnectedcar.com
In autonomous and Self-driving vehicle news are Teamsters, Tesla, NTSB, Bio-Waste in AVs and NHTSA. Teamsters & Unions Lobby Against DC AV Bill A coalition of labor groups including Teamsters Local 639, SEIU 32BJ, and ATU Local 689 testified before the Washington, D.C. City Council to block Bill 26-0684, the Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act. The proposed legislation seeks to establish a regulatory framework permitting commercial robotaxi operations, notably Waymo, within the District of Columbia. Union representatives argue the bill lacks sufficient labor protections and poses a direct threat to the livelihoods of professional drivers and municipal transit workers. The legislative pushback in Washington, D.C. mirrors a broader national trend where similar AV deployment bills have stalled or failed. State legislatures in Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Washington, Maryland, and Virginia have all declined to pass comparable authorization bills in 2026 amid ongoing public concern over safety and driver displacement. Labor advocates are positioning the resistance as a critical defense of middle-class transport jobs against unregulated automation, urging the council to prioritize public safety and workforce preservation over technology sector lobbying. NTSB Verifies Manual Override In Fatal Katy Tesla Crash The National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary investigation report confirming that the driver of a 2025 Tesla Model 3 manually overrode the vehicle’s advanced driver assistance system prior to a fatal crash in Katy, Texas. Electronic data retrieved from the vehicle indicated that while Full Self-Driving (FSD) (Supervised) was actively engaged, the 44-year-old operator, Michael David Butler, fully depressed the accelerator pedal to 100% capacity. The continuous telemetry override caused the vehicle to accelerate to 73 mph in approximately six seconds—more than double the posted 30 mph speed limit on the residential two-lane roadway—before breaching the curb and colliding with a residential structure. The impact resulted in the
Jul 19, 2026 · via autoconnectedcar.com
Institution news The team beat off competition from more than 100 universities to take the title, finishing ahead of University of Modena and University of Birmingham in one of the world's toughest student engineering competitions. University of Liverpool are the winners of the Concept Class event, while Oxford Brookes University won the FS-AI autonomous vehicle competition. But Formula Student is about far more than crossing the finish line. From the first scrutineering check to the final Endurance run, thousands of future engineers spent the week proving they have the innovation, teamwork and technical skills to tackle some of engineering's biggest challenges. Alongside the overall championship, teams battled for honours across Engineering Design, Endurance, Sprint, Acceleration, Business Presentation, Cost & Manufacturing and Formula Student AI. The full list of winners is available here. This year's competition also saw a higher scrutineering pass rate, the first hybrid vehicle winner and increased number of AI entries, highlighting the ever-rising standard of the competition. Dan Jones, Formula Student Chief Judge, said: "Formula Student isn't about building the fastest car. It's about building better engineers. Every challenge the teams face mirrors the sort of problems they will encounter in industry - designing under pressure, managing budgets, solving technical issues, working as a team and delivering against demanding deadlines. Those are the skills employers are looking for, and that's why Formula Student continues to produce engineers who go on to make a real impact across Formula 1, motorsport and the wider engineering profession." Joyce Achampong, Senior Leadership Lead Formula Student at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: "Formula Student is so much more than a competition. It's where the next generation of engineers discover what they are capable of. Over the last few days, we have seen incredible innovation, resilience and teamwork from every university that
Jul 19, 2026 · via imeche.org
Apple recently filed a trade secrets lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the AI company of a pattern of misconduct aimed at getting current and former Apple employees to share confidential information. (In response, OpenAI said it is “not aware of any evidence that this complaint has merit.”) On the latest episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, and I debated whether this lawsuit will cast a shadow over OpenAI’s much-discussed plans to get into the hardware business (starting with a mobile smart speaker) and go public. “Even setting aside whether or not the court grants any kind of injunctive relief or any kind of restraining order over what OpenAI is doing, it just naturally can lead to that sort of situation where it’s going to cause some delays in what OpenAI is working on,” Sean suggested. “Which I’m sure was probably part of the reasoning behind Apple doing this. They don’t do this stuff willy nilly.” With all those plans on the line, will OpenAI try to settle this as quickly as possible, or did it learn from its recent courtroom victory against Elon Musk that it can endure the cost and embarrassment of a trial? Kirsten, at least, predicts the latter. Keep reading for a preview of our conversation, edited for length and clarity. Kirsten Korosec: Sean, how do you feel about Sam Altman listening to you with a little device maybe in your pocket? Sean O’Kane: I’m good. Maybe that’s predictable, but I’m good. No thanks. We’ll get into it, I’m sure, but this is allegedly the first product that OpenAI has been working on in its hardware division with Jony Ive and company. They’ve been really coy ever since that weird video they put out last year of them sitting at that coffee shop or bar
Jul 19, 2026 · via techcrunch.com