Electric vehicle specialist Voltempo is developing a 15.6-metre-long autonomous rigid prototype truck without a cab, promising to maximise load space and payload at the longest permissible length for a non-articulated vehicle. The concept aims to extend a rigid lorry’s length and capacity beyond the current maximums of 12 metres, 32 tonnes and four axles to 15.6 metres, 42 tonnes and five axles. Ensure you always get Fleet News insight. Make us your preferred source on Google It will be the same length as a coach and the lack of a cab will free up weight and space for greater load capacity, creating what Voltempo founder and corporate development officer, Michael Boxwell, describes as a “smart trailer”. Berkeley Coachworks is building the body, and a well-known truck manufacturer will supply the electric drivetrain. The prototype is due to be completed by September 2027, and trials are expected to start later that year at an autonomous vehicle test track in South Wales. The UK’s Automated Vehicles Act allows driverless vehicles to travel on public roads from this year. Orders for production models of the autonomous vehicle are expected to begin in late 2027, with first deliveries tipped for mid-2028. “If you get rid of the (truck) cab, you’ve got a 15.6-metre long longer semi-trailer, in effect,” said Boxwell (pictured above). “An articulated tractor and trailer unit is about 15-17 tonnes as a diesel vehicle, and as an electric vehicle, it’s maybe 19 tonnes. “With this smart trailer, we can get the laden weight down to between 10 and 12 tons as an electric vehicle. That means you’ve got 15% more space compared to a standard-length trailer. “You’ve got a significant amount of extra payload – five-to-seven-tonnes – and, bearing in mind the weight of a cab is two tonnes… we worked out
May 15, 2026 · via fleetnews.co.uk
In NYC, Waymo Comes to a Stop. What’s Ahead for Driverless Cars? We are excited to begin sharing insights from our economic policy team as they relate to the latest city news. Jaylexia Clark, CNYCA's labor market analyst, writes why Waymo's pause on testing self-driving cars is an opportunity to strengthen worker protections against AI. This April, during a trip from LaGuardia Airport to Manhattan, I spoke with Uber driver M. Khalid about the growing debate over autonomous vehicles and Waymo’s ongoing attempt to expand to New York City. Khalid, who has driven in New York City for more than two decades and witnessed Uber’s arrival firsthand, described Waymo as part of a broader pattern: technology companies enter the city’s market and accumulate vast amounts of wealth, all while workers absorb the economic consequences. This was a story I knew all too well, as a researcher focused on AI’s impact on workers who are already marginalized in today’s rapidly changing economy. Interviews I conducted with rideshare drivers and rideshare labor organizers in Chicago reflect that drivers suspect the tech platforms they depend on are working “against workers” to maximize the platforms’ profits. Eliminating the driver altogether is a continuation of those suspicions. In New York City, however, we are in a rare pause regarding the impact of driverless vehicles: On March 31, city and state permits that allowed Waymo, which uses ML (machine-learning) algorithms, to test its driverless taxis expired, and it’s unclear what will happen next. In several U.S. cities, autonomous vehicle deployment has already displaced rideshare and taxi drivers. New York City, however, remains a significant barrier to expansion because current New York State vehicle and traffic laws still require a human operator behind the wheel. My research suggests that whenever the next flashy tech company comes knocking,
May 15, 2026 · via centernyc.org
Waymo issues voluntary software recall after driverless car drives into flooded lane in Texas Company testing autonomous vehicles in Las Vegas implements software changes following April incident LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Waymo issued a voluntary software recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after one of its driverless vehicles drove into flood waters in Texas. A Waymo car operating with no one inside drove into a flooded lane in San Antonio on April 20 during extreme weather. The car detected the flooding but continued moving at a slower speed, according to Waymo. No one was hurt. AMPLIFIED: Inside look at autonomous vehicles in the Las Vegas Valley Waymo is making changes following the incident. The company is working on a software fix, refining its extreme weather operations during heavy rain and limiting access to areas where flash flooding might happen. Waymo continues testing a fleet of cars in Las Vegas. The company said the recall does not impact cars in Las Vegas because they are not yet operating fully driverless. A trained specialist remains in the driver’s seat. Waymo says it plans to offer rides with a driver this summer in Las Vegas but has not provided a timeline for fully autonomous rides, saying safety will guide the schedule. Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
May 15, 2026 · via fox5vegas.com
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May 15, 2026 · via fox5vegas.com
Driverless cars could soon be zipping around New Jersey roadways under a proposed three-year pilot program intended to give testers time to ensure the vehicles' safety. The Senate transportation committee on Monday unanimously advanced a bill that would also create a task force to help state transportation officials establish protocols on autonomous vehicle crashes, cyberattacks, operational disruptions, liability, and guidelines to ensure the safety of pedestrians and others. If the discussion sparked déjà vu, that's because New Jersey has been here before. Legislators in 2019 passed a law that also created a task force with a similar mission. But that task force issued its report the same day in March 2020 that New Jersey confirmed its first case of COVID-19. In the ensuing pandemic and shutdowns, the report was largely ignored and forgotten. This article from the New Jersey Monitor was published through the NJ News Commons, a collaborative network of digital news publishers in the state. Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-Middlesex) was a chief sponsor of both the 2019 law and the current bill. "100% of our attention was on trying to keep people alive and find medical equipment," Zwicker said of the forgotten 2019 report. But autonomous vehicle technology and safety have advanced quite a bit in the six years since the first task force made its recommendations, and driverless cars also have become more widely accepted by the public, Zwicker said. That makes now the right time to get them on Garden State roads, he added. "We're talking about a transformative way to transport people and goods in the densest state in the country," he said. His current bill has embraced some of the recommendations in the task force's 2020 report, including requiring the vehicles to be road-tested before the state allows widespread public use and enacting protections
May 15, 2026 · via 70and73.com
The researchers used CUREE (the Curious Underwater Robot for Ecosystem Exploration), a robotic vehicle developed as a part of the WHOI Reef Solutions Initiative, and combined CUREE’s cameras, hydrophones, and powerful on-board computers to analyze audio and visual signals in real-time, enabling it to autonomously identify areas of higher biological activity at unprecedented resolution. Their work combines different types of observations—direct (mapping audio and visual detection of animals) and indirect (what can be inferred from environmental soundscapes or behavior of sentinel species)—to identify where biological hotspots are most likely to be located. The system represents a breakthrough in the ability to identify, map, and monitor the fine-scale structure of reef biodiversity, a key part of understanding reef health and resilience. “We know that biodiversity on reefs isn’t distributed uniformly,” said Seth McCammon, a WHOI roboticist and lead author of the study. “But until now we haven’t really been able to reliably quantify that by finding these patchy hotspots, mapping them at the centimeter scale, and measuring just how active they really are. Developing this capability is going to be critical to helping biologists get a deeper understanding of reef ecology moving forward.” Coral reefs, which occupy less than 0.01% of the ocean, yet support roughly one quarter of all marine species, are under mounting stress from warming ocean water, disease, overfishing, and coastal development. This biodiversity clusters in localized hotspots—areas of intense biological activity that are critical for feeding, shelter, and reproduction. By resolving biodiversity patterns at sub-meter scales and linking them to habitat features such as reef structure, scientists will be better positioned to understand the processes that sustain reef ecosystems. Unlike traditional reef surveys conducted by trained divers, which are costly, limited in coverage, and potentially hazardous, CUREE can operate autonomously for hours at a time, precisely localize
May 15, 2026 · via ecomagazine.com
bitsensing, a leading radar solution company, today launches the AIR4D Imaging Radar, engineered to help autonomous vehicle (AV) companies deploy autonomous fleets in real-world environments faster and at scale. In order to drastically speed up the commercialization of AVs worldwide, AIR4D gives companies direct access to high-resolution 4D sensor data (point cloud data & Doppler data), including radar raw data outputs, to train smarter models. Currently, other 4D radar solutions often operate as closed systems, limiting the availability of all the raw data produced from testing. Access to this raw radar data is critical because it enables developers and AV companies to continuously refine perception models, validate performance and accelerate the path from testing to safe, large-scale fleet deployment. A 4D Radar Purpose-Built For Autonomous Vehicles Crucially also, compared to other 4D radars on the mobility market, AIR4D clearly differentiates itself by being purpose-built for AVs. It delivers detailed 4D sensor data designed specifically for AV AI models, while being optimized for power and heat efficiency, helping these vehicles operate reliably in the real world. By contrast, many 4D radars were developed for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) functions in passenger vehicles, not for full autonomous driving functionality. In addition, AIR4D Imaging Radar relies on a camera-plus-radar architecture for AVs, opening up a viable path to significantly lower per-vehicle sensor costs, while markedly accelerating AV deployment on roads around the world. AIR4D is available for off-the-shelf deployment, offering: - Direct velocity per object: bitsensing’s radar measures how fast surrounding vehicles, cyclists or pedestrians are moving in real time, enabling faster and more accurate decision-making for AVs. - Long-range detection up to 300m: It identifies vehicles and obstacles farther down the road, giving autonomous vehicles more time to react safely. - Accuracy in nighttime and zero-light environments: The 4D radar can
May 15, 2026 · via eejournal.com
From a press release: “US Ignite, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), and Southwest Business Improvement District (SWBID) are thrilled to announce plans to launch an Autonomous Vehicle Observation (AVO) Zone Challenge in June 2026, a pivotal step toward understanding autonomous vehicle activity on public streets in dense urban environments. The AVO Zone Challenge is designed to identify and pilot innovative solutions that enable DDOT to detect, monitor, and analyze the impact of autonomous vehicle (AV) operations in Washington, DC. Supported by academic partners The George Washington University and the University of Washington, the initiative will help equip DDOT with tools and data insights to better understand how AVs interact within a bustling multimodal transportation environment as emerging transportation technologies continue to evolve. “US Ignite is excited to partner with DDOT and SWBID on the AVO Zone Challenge right here in Washington, DC. This effort leverages cutting-edge transportation technologies to provide the necessary data to inform AV policies in the District and nationwide,” said Nick Maynard, CEO, US Ignite. “It reinforces the need for cities to build capacity to better understand and monitor how AVs operate in complex, real-world conditions.” Ideal challenge participants include organizations offering solutions that can detect and monitor AV activity and interactions with other road users in mixed-traffic environments. Solutions should also be able to identify safety-critical events and providers must be capable and willing to offer high-quality data to support policy, research and public transparency. The AVO Zone Challenge seeks visionary teams ready to contribute to safer and smarter mobility systems in urban environments. An information session will be held in June 2026 to discuss further details about the AVO Zone Challenge. Interested participants can sign up to receive notifications at: us-ignite.org/avo-challenge-interest-form/ With this collaboration among US Ignite, DDOT, and SWBID, Washington, DC is taking
May 15, 2026 · via popville.com
Stay up to date with Hypepotamus Add us as a preferred source in Google As an Atlanta driver, there are few places that give me more personal anxiety than the parking lot at Lenox Square Mall. (The Home Depot Midtown lot and the Trader Joe’s parking lot are close contenders, though). It’s not just human drivers to blame anymore for parking frustrations. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are already adding a new layer of chaos to Atlanta’s most crowded lots. While convenient for riders, AVs are already disrupting parking operations at places like Lenox Square Mall, dropping off passengers in inconvenient spots, clogging valet lanes, and creating bottlenecks for pedestrians and traffic alike. At Lenox, the situation had become acute enough that Simon Property Group, which runs the mall, called it an “emergency situation.” To address the growing AV management challenge, Lenox is now one of the first properties in Atlanta to deploy technology from Bay Area-based startup Autolane, which has built a ride-hailing orchestration system designed to bring order to AV curbside chaos. What Is Autolane, and How Does Its Smart Curbside System Work? Autolane is a hardware and software startup building infrastructure to coordinate autonomous vehicles at retail and commercial properties, acting as a communication layer between AV companies and property owners. Ben Seidl, the startup’s co-founder and CEO, told Hypepotamus that Autolane solves the “communication, coordination, and control” problems that arise when AVs interact with retail locations. The core issue is that AV companies aren’t in direct communication with individual property owners. Each location has its own traffic plans and specific preferences for how vehicles should navigate their property. But autonomous vehicle companies aren’t coordinating with every venue. And unlike human drivers, AVs can’t read a hand-written sign, take a cue from a parking attendant, or make a judgment
May 15, 2026 · via hypepotamus.com
Waymo, the autonomous driving subsidiary of Google, recently initiated a voluntary recall affecting about 3,800 robotaxis after one of its self-driving vehicles entered a flooded roadway without properly recognizing the danger. The incident has renewed concerns over the safety of fully driverless autonomous vehicles while highlighting a growing industry challenge: robotaxi operators must increasingly handle not only unexpected road hazards but also severe and rapidly changing weather conditions to achieve broader commercialization. According to Reuters and Autoweek on May 12 local time, heavy rain in San Antonio, Texas, on April 20 caused flooding across multiple roads, and one Waymo vehicle entered a deeply flooded area. No passengers were inside the vehicle at the time. Waymo said it decided to recall approximately 3,800 robotaxis and deploy software updates to review how its autonomous driving system failed to properly recognize the hazard and how similar flooding scenarios should be handled in the future. The recall affects vehicles equipped with Waymo's fifth- and sixth-generation autonomous driving systems (ADS). According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Waymo filed for a voluntary recall on April 30. The company also implemented temporary software updates to strengthen weather-related driving restrictions and updated mapping systems to better identify flood-prone areas. In a statement, Waymo said it is improving its autonomous driving system's response framework for extreme weather conditions, restricting access to regions vulnerable to sudden flooding and adding additional software safety safeguards. Waymo currently operates robotaxi services in multiple U.S. cities including Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Austin while expanding into more complex operating environments such as London and Tokyo that involve broader weather variability. Although the recall once again highlights ongoing safety concerns surrounding autonomous driving incidents, recent market research reports suggest the autonomous vehicle industry is moving beyond experimental stages toward commercial
May 14, 2026 · via thelec.net
LOS ANGELES — Waymo is recalling 3,791 autonomous vehicles after one of its driverless cars detected floodwater on a San Antonio roadway but continued forward before becoming stranded, according to a safety recall report filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The recall lands as Los Angeles officials are moving to support new statewide restrictions on autonomous vehicle companies — including response-time rules, local incident technicians, and penalties when driverless vehicles block streets, bike lanes, emergency access routes or fire hydrants. Westside Current reported this week that an LA City Hall resolution calls for the city to formally support Senate Bill 1246, a proposal by Sen. Dave Cortese aimed at imposing new operating rules on autonomous vehicle companies in California. The federal recall affects vehicles equipped with Waymo’s fifth- and sixth-generation automated driving systems, according to NHTSA documents. Federal regulators said the software may allow a vehicle to “slow and then drive into standing water on higher speed roadways.” Entering a flooded roadway can cause loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash or injury, according to NHTSA. According to Waymo’s recall report, the April 20 incident happened when an unoccupied autonomous vehicle encountered an “untraversable flooded section” of roadway with a 40 mph speed limit. Waymo told regulators the vehicle detected the floodwater but proceeded at reduced speed before becoming stranded. The San Antonio Express-News reported the vehicle was swept away by floodwaters and later recovered downstream. No one was injured, and the vehicle was unoccupied. Waymo told federal regulators it imposed additional operational restrictions the same day in areas and conditions where vehicles faced an elevated risk of encountering flooded higher-speed roadways. The company also said its Safety Board reviewed the issue on April 24 and decided to conduct a recall. Waymo said it began
May 14, 2026 · via westsidecurrent.com
US autonomous driving startup Nuro said on Thursday that it is establishing operations in Germany, opening its first European office in the Munich area as it expands its Level 4 AI driving platform. The Munich office will serve as Nuro’s European hub, supporting engineering, operations, and partner engagement, according to the Softbank-backed company. The European hub will allow Nuro to validate and adapt its technology for European driving conditions and regulatory frameworks. “Expanding to Germany is an important step in Nuro becoming a truly global autonomy company,” said Dave Ferguson, co-founder and co-Chief Executive Officer of Nuro. “We’re developing a universal Level 4 platform that can serve partners across vehicle categories and regions, and this expansion brings us closer to the partners, road conditions, and regulatory environments that will shape long-term deployment,” Ferguson added. The Universal Autonomy Platform Strategy Nuro’s approach is intended to reduce integration complexity, accelerate development cycles, and establish a consistent technical foundation across the full range of vehicle applications. The strategic positioning distinguishes Nuro from autonomous driving competitors that have focused narrowly on a single vehicle category — such as Waymo’s robotaxi-only deployment, or autonomous trucking startups focused exclusively on logistics. By developing a single Level 4 platform adaptable to multiple vehicle types, Nuro is positioning itself as a horizontal supplier to OEMs and ride-hailing operators rather than a vertically integrated competitor. The Japan Precedent Nuro’s Munich expansion builds directly on the company’s Japanese operations, which served as the first validation of its universal platform thesis. In Tokyo, Nuro demonstrated what it calls “zero-shot autonomy” with the Nuro Driver — showing that its platform could operate in a new driving environment without prior training on local driving data. Germany introduces a broader range of road infrastructure and regulatory frameworks that will further strengthen the generalisability of
May 14, 2026 · via eletric-vehicles.com
LOS ANGELES — The city is moving to back a state crackdown on autonomous vehicle companies, adding to scrutiny that has already reached Santa Monica courtrooms and neighborhood streets. A resolution introduced at Los Angeles City Hall calls for the city to formally support Senate Bill 1246, a proposal by Sen. Dave Cortese that would impose new operating rules on autonomous vehicle companies in California. The resolution points to problems local officials say cities are already encountering — driverless cars blocking traffic, interfering with emergency responders, and gaps in how quickly companies can respond when something goes wrong. The resolution says autonomous vehicles are “rapidly expanding in number, geographic scope, and operating hours,” while cities across California have encountered rising public safety concerns. The resolution frames the issue as one of accountability — whether companies deploying fleets on public streets should be required to provide faster human response, clearer data, and a way for emergency crews to move vehicles when they fail. Under SB 1246, autonomous vehicle companies would face a series of new statewide requirements. Remote assistants, remote drivers, and local incident technicians would have to be based in the United States, hold valid California driver’s licenses, and be registered in the state’s Employer Pull Notice program. Companies would also be limited to one remote operator for every three autonomous passenger vehicles actively operating on California roads. The bill would require local incident technicians to arrive within 10 minutes of an accident or a request from a first responder. Those technicians would need the authority and physical ability to manually relocate a vehicle. First responders could request an on-site technician for collisions, immobilized vehicles, obstructions or other safety issues requiring someone physically present. The proposal also calls for every autonomous vehicle to be equipped with a manual override system
May 14, 2026 · via westsidecurrent.com
Why recent LiDAR partnerships matter for Innoviz Technologies (NasdaqCM:INVZ) Recent announcements around InnovizTwo evaluations set the stage for Innoviz Technologies (NasdaqCM:INVZ), including an on-sensor perception software agreement and a separate letter of intent with LOXO for L4 autonomous delivery vehicles. See our latest analysis for Innoviz Technologies. These new LiDAR evaluation agreements come as momentum has picked up in the short term, with 1 day, 7 day and 30 day share price returns of 16.6%, 22.0% and 33.8% respectively. However, the 1 year total shareholder return is still down 3.5%. If the recent LiDAR news has you thinking about where autonomous and AI related hardware could head next, it might be worth scanning 39 AI infrastructure stocks With the stock still down over 3% on a 1 year view despite recent gains and trading below the average analyst price target, should you view Innoviz as undervalued today, or assume the market is already pricing in potential future growth? Most Popular Narrative: 55% Undervalued At a last close of $0.92 versus a narrative fair value of $2.03, the most followed view sees a substantial gap between price and long term potential. Expansion into nonautomotive markets, such as smart infrastructure, security, robotics, and traffic management, is driving incremental growth, with recently launched products like InnovizSMART already gaining early traction and commanding higher ASPs and margins, thereby improving long term gross margins and revenue diversification. Read the complete narrative. Curious how fast revenue is assumed to ramp, how margins are expected to shift, and which future earnings multiple underpins that $2.03 figure? The full narrative lays out a detailed growth path, a profitability timeline, and an earnings valuation framework built from explicit revenue, margin and discount rate assumptions. Result: Fair Value of $2.03 (UNDERVALUED) Have a read of the narrative in full and
May 14, 2026 · via simplywall.st
Waymo robotaxi hit flooded Texas road. Are they safe in severe weather? - Waymo is recalling over 3,700 robotaxis due to a software issue affecting their response to flooded roads. - The recall was prompted after an unoccupied vehicle entered a flooded road in San Antonio, Texas. - Waymo's autonomous system uses cameras, radar, and lidar to navigate severe weather, but riders cannot override its actions. - A software update has been deployed to the affected vehicles to address the issue. More than 3,700 Waymo robotaxis are being recalled after a software issue raised questions about how autonomous vehicles respond in severe weather. A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report published May 6 found that on high-speed roads, Waymo vehicles may slow when they detect a potentially untraversable flooded lane but do not fully stop. Waymo said it became aware of the issue on April 20 after an unoccupied vehicle entered a flooded roadway at about 40 mph in San Antonio, Texas. The company said the vehicle detected flooding but continued at a reduced speed. Now, the recall centers attention on how autonomous systems respond to severe or extreme weather, where conditions can obscure lanes and quickly change driving conditions. Are Waymo robotaxis safe in storms? Even in human-driven vehicles, severe weather creates operational challenges on the road and remains a leading contributor to crashes, accounting for roughly one in five incidents. Reduced visibility from fog, rain, snow or dust, along with sensor or windshield interference from droplets, ice or dirt, can obstruct perception, while slippery road surfaces can reduce traction and change braking performance. To address these conditions for robotaxis, Waymo’s self-driving system — known as the Waymo Driver — uses a combination of cameras, radar and lidar to perceive its environment, according to a 2022 article from Waymo's
May 14, 2026 · via usatoday.com
The Drone Diplomacy Task Force on Tuesday signed a letter of intent (LOI) with the Arlington, Virginia-based Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) to promote talent exchanges and international certification. The LOI was signed at XPONENTIAL, an autonomy and robotics exhibition in Detroit, Michigan, which began on Monday and runs through today. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs-arranged task force also participated in Tuesday afternoon’s US-Taiwan Autonomous Systems Cooperation Forum. Photo courtesy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago AUVSI chief executive officer Michael Robbins said that Taiwan is the association’s first choice for expanding its Green Unmanned Aircraft Systems certification due to its “non-red” supply chain, and outstanding resilience, speed, scale and leadership in the uncrewed autonomous vehicle (UAV) sector. Under the increasing threat of authoritarian states, democratic nations need to work together, Robbins said, adding that Taiwan is not only home to strong manufacturing, and research and development capabilities, but also serves as a key front line in maintaining regional peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. AUVSI is the world’s largest trade association for uncrewed systems, robotics and autonomous technologies. Photo courtesy of the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology The task force last week attended the SelectUSA Investment Summit, hosted by the US Department of Commerce in Maryland. It was established after President William Lai (賴清德) in October last year pledged to develop Taiwan’s “five trusted industry sectors,” said Department of NGO International Affairs Director Chiang Zhen-wei (江振瑋), who is heading the task force. The five industries are: semiconductors, artificial intelligence, military defense, security and surveillance, and next-generation communications. The task force was established by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) to boost international cooperation in the UAV sector, similar to the work being done for semiconductor diplomacy, Chiang said. Taiwan’s drone
May 14, 2026 · via taipeitimes.com
Gasgoo Munich- On May 13, Xiaomi introduced Xiaomi OneVL, a new AI framework designed for autonomous driving that combines latent-space reasoning with language and visual intelligence in a single-step architecture. Image source: Xiaomi According to the company, the system brings together several major technical approaches — including vision-language-action (VLA) models, world models, and latent-space reasoning — within one unified framework. Xiaomi said the architecture is capable of delivering stronger reasoning performance while also improving both inference speed and accuracy compared with existing methods. Xiaomi said OneVL adopts a dual-supervision mechanism that combines language-based reasoning with future visual prediction. The approach is intended to integrate explainability and predictive world-model capabilities directly into the latent reasoning process, allowing the model to better understand and anticipate complex driving environments. The company explained that the framework is built around the idea that autonomous driving requires more than compressed language reasoning alone. Instead, effective decision-making depends on a broader understanding of how the visual world is likely to evolve over time. In practical driving scenarios, factors such as vehicle motion, road geometry, and the dynamic behavior of surrounding obstacles are governed by complex spatial and temporal relationships. Xiaomi argues that relying solely on compressed language representations risks losing critical structural information, while compressing predictions of future visual scenes can preserve the elements most relevant to driving outcomes. Building on that concept, Xiaomi developed three core technologies aimed at enabling the model to "think" using its own internal representation system, predict future visual scenarios, and compress the entire reasoning pipeline into a single inference step. The company said Xiaomi OneVL achieved record-setting results across several mainstream reasoning and planning benchmarks for autonomous driving applications. According to Xiaomi, the framework outperformed existing latent-space reasoning approaches in accuracy, surpassing explicit chain-of-thought (CoT) reasoning methods while maintaining inference speeds
May 14, 2026 · via autonews.gasgoo.com
Driverless transportation company Waymo has issued a software recall of its vehicle fleet following an incident last month during flooding in San Antonio. The Waymo vehicle was swept up in flood waters and washed into Salado Creek during heavy rains on April 20. The car was unoccupied and no one was injured in the incident. The recall notice said while the vehicle detected the flooded road, it continued on its path and proceeded at a reduced speed. The company issued the recall of nearly 3,800 fifth- and sixth-generation vehicles to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Waymo said a remedy is currently under development. However, it has already modified the scope of vehicle operations to increase weather-related constraints. In an earlier incident that occurred earlier in April, another Waymo vehicle became stranded in floodwaters near McCullough Avenue and Contour Drive. Both cars were unoccupied, and no one was injured in either incident. The recall affects the entire fleet of Waymo autonomous vehicles, including ones in Houston. Though the company paused its services in San Antonio, a spokesperson said the recall will not disrupt service in Houston. RELATED: Waymo is officially giving rides to Houstonians in fully self-driving cars Waymo previously said it would reevaluate how its vehicles respond to flood-prone areas and severe weather alerts before restarting service. The back-to-back flood incidents also underscored how quickly changing weather conditions in San Antonio can challenge autonomous vehicle technology. At the same time, Waymo is expanding its services in Houston to encompass nearly 50 square miles, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. Waymo robotaxis will now be able to drive to East Downtown, the Medical Center, and NRG Park. Waymo is also expanding in several other cities, including Austin, Atlanta, and San Francisco, beginning Wednesday. Part of this, the company says, is working
May 14, 2026 · via houstonpublicmedia.org
Waymo is recalling nearly 3,800 autonomous taxis in the United States after identifying a safety issue involving flooded roads during severe weather conditions. The issue came to light after one of Waymo’s autonomous vehicles reportedly drove into a flooded lane in San Antonio, Texas, during intense rainfall in April. According to the company, the vehicle was unoccupied at the time, and no injuries occurred. Even without injuries, the incident immediately raised concerns about how autonomous systems interpret dangerous road conditions during extreme weather. Flooding remains one of the most unpredictable hazards for both human drivers and self-driving technology, especially when water depth and road visibility rapidly change. Waymo says it has already implemented temporary safeguards while developing a permanent software fix. Regulators are also closely monitoring the situation as scrutiny surrounding autonomous vehicle safety continues to increase across the industry. Flooded Roads Exposed A Weakness In The System According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration filings, the recall specifically targets scenarios where Waymo vehicles could potentially enter flooded roads with higher speed limits. The April incident in San Antonio prompted the company to review how its software handles similar situations involving standing water, fast-moving traffic, and limited route alternatives. Severe weather can create conditions where lane markings, curbs, and road edges become difficult for sensors and cameras to interpret accurately. Waymo stated that it is now refining its “extreme weather operations” while limiting vehicle access to areas where flash flooding may occur. The company has also updated portions of its operating maps and temporarily reduced the geographic scope of service in certain conditions. Unlike traditional recalls involving physical defects, this recall focuses entirely on software behavior and operational safety protocols. That has become increasingly common as modern autonomous vehicles rely heavily on constantly evolving software systems. Autonomous Driving Still Struggles
May 14, 2026 · via autos.yahoo.com
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May 14, 2026 · via youtube.com