Autonomous Vehicles - GM's decision to no longer fund its self-driving car subsidiary Cruise was a surprise, leading to significant changes including layoffs of 24% of Cruise's workforce and the resignation of its co-founder Kyle Vogt [1] - Cruise, acquired by GM for $1 billion in 2016, faced regulatory suspension and ceased operations after an incident involving a pedestrian in October 2023 [1] - The autonomous vehicle industry has seen consolidation, with major players like GM's Cruise, Alphabet's Waymo, Hyundai-backed Motional, and Amazon-owned Zoox remaining by 2023 [1] - San Francisco is identified as the most prepared city for new transportation technologies like AI, autonomous vehicles, and air taxis [10] - Uber and WeRide launched a robotaxi service in Abu Dhabi [10] Urban Air Mobility - Hyundai's urban air mobility startup, Supernal, is shifting its global headquarters from Washington, D C to Irvine, affecting around 5% of its workforce [2][3] - Investors continue to show interest in future-of-flight SPACs, with companies like Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation raising significant funds [5][6] - Archer Aviation raised $430 million for a new business unit focused on defense applications, including a partnership with Anduril to build a hybrid VTOL [7] - Joby Aviation launched a public offering to sell up to $300 million of its shares, adding to the $222 million raised in October, aiming for a total of $522 million [7] Electric Vehicles and Charging - Fisker resolved a federal safety investigation regarding its Ocean SUVs potentially rolling away unexpectedly [11] - Lightship launched its all-electric travel trailer, the AE 1 Cosmos Edition, with plans to produce only 50 units priced at $250,000 [12] - Lucid Gravity SUV entered production with an estimated EPA range of 450 miles [12] - Rivian's EVs ranked last on Consumer Reports' reliability list [12] - WeaveGrid, an EV charging software startup, raised $28 million in a round led by Toyota's Woven Capital [7] Other Transportation News - Amazon expanded into online car sales with Amazon Autos, allowing customers to buy new vehicles from dealerships [13] - Salvatore Palella resigned as CEO of Micromobility com, with his holding company taking on all of the company's debt [13] - Spotify discontinued its in-car streaming device, Car Thing, with all units now disabled [13] - Uber has 30 days to require certain drivers to get fingerprinted to continue transporting unaccompanied teens in California [13] Industry Trends and Investments - Nikola, a producer of battery and hydrogen-electric trucks, is taking steps to repay debts and raise equity, including a $100 million common stock sale [7] - The autonomous vehicle industry saw significant hype and investment, with parallels drawn to the current AI boom [1]

Core Insights - Big tech companies are shifting focus from nuclear power investments to renewable energy projects, with Google and Microsoft leading the charge [1][2] Group 1: Company Initiatives - Google announced a funding of $20 billion for renewable power projects across the U.S. [1] - Microsoft is involved in launching the Climate and Communities Investment Coalition, aiming to invest $9 billion to develop 5 gigawatts of renewable power, sufficient to power nearly 1 million homes [2] - Microsoft has already invested in a 210-megawatt solar farm in Texas through the coalition, with support from the Sustain Our Future Foundation [3] Group 2: Investment Strategy - The coalition, organized by Acadia, emphasizes that corporate involvement can exponentially accelerate the expansion of renewable energy [2] - Microsoft has not linked its renewable projects to specific data centers, suggesting that renewable energy credits (RECs) will contribute to its general energy portfolio [4] - Acadia plans to complete the renewable projects over a five-year period [5]

GM’s decision to shut down its Cruise robotaxi program continues to ripple through the market, extending to the self-driving car company’s minority investors. Microsoft, which in 2021 made an investment into Cruise, will take $800 million impairment charge as a result of GM’s actions, according to a regulatory filing. Microsoft said the charge will be recorded in other income and expense and was not included in its second quarter guidance provided on October 30, 2024. It is estimated to have a negative impa ...

General Motors said Tuesday it will no longer fund the development of a commercial robotaxi business and will instead absorb its self-driving car subsidiary Cruise and combine it with the automaker’s own efforts to develop driver assistance features — and eventually fully autonomous personal vehicles.The pivot is a remarkable step for the automaker, which acquired the self-driving startup Cruise in March 2016 for $1 billion. Since then, GM has spent more than $10 billion on the company in a bid to commercia ...

Core Insights - Meta's apps, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, experienced a global outage on Wednesday, with the cause currently unknown [1] - The company acknowledged a "technical issue" affecting user access and is working to resolve it [1] - The outage began around 1 p.m. ET, with user reports on Downdetector spiking to over 97,000 for Facebook and over 67,000 for Instagram [1] User Impact - The outage significantly increased user reports, with Facebook typically receiving an average of 16 reports per hour, which surged during the outage [1] - Meta's status page indicated "major disruptions" in Facebook Ads Manager and issues with Workplace from Meta, which is in recovery [2] Company Response - Meta has publicly acknowledged the issue and is actively working to restore normal operations [1][2] - Further comments from Meta regarding the outage have been requested but not yet provided [2]

In Brief Apple is working with semiconductor company Broadcom on its first server chip designed to handle AI applications, according to The Information, which cited three people with knowledge of the project. Apple is known for designing its own chips – called Apple Silicon and primarily manufactured by TSMC – for its devices. But those chips weren’t necessarily designed to power AI processing. Apple on Wednesday rolled out several much-awaited Apple Intelligence features to users with newer iPhones and Ma ...

Google’s next major AI model has arrived to combat a slew of new offerings from OpenAI.On Wednesday, Google announced Gemini 2.0 Flash, which the company says can natively generate images and audio in addition to text. 2.0 Flash can also use third-party apps and services, allowing it to tap into Google Search, execute code, and more. An experimental release of 2.0 Flash will be available through the Gemini API and Google’s AI developer platforms, AI Studio and Vertex AI, starting today. However, the audio ...

The news came by Slack message. Cruise CEO Marc Whitten, who took the top post in June, posted a message Tuesday afternoon in the company’s announcements channel along with a link to a press release entitled “GM to refocus autonomous driving development on personal vehicles.” GM, which acquired the self-driving car startup in 2016, would no longer fund the company, ending a mission that hundreds of Cruise engineers had worked on for years.  Minutes later, during an all-hands meeting, Cruise employees learn ...

Core Viewpoint - Meta is facing a significant class action lawsuit in the U.K. over allegations of exploiting user data, with potential damages exceeding $2.7 billion, as the case progresses after Meta's unsuccessful attempts to dismiss it [1][5]. Group 1: Lawsuit Details - The lawsuit, led by Dr. Liza Lovdahl Gormsen, claims that Meta exploited U.K. users' personal data under an "unfair bargain" due to its market dominance in social networking [2][7]. - The collective action covers 46 million U.K. users from February 14, 2016, to October 6, 2023, and seeks damages between £2.1 billion and £3.1 billion, based on updated user data [3][5]. - The U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal has certified the collective claim, allowing it to proceed to trial, which is a significant step in the litigation process [5]. Group 2: Implications of the Case - The lawsuit is notable for the substantial damages sought, which exceed previous fines imposed on Meta for data violations in Europe, highlighting the potential financial impact on the company [11]. - This case could set a precedent for how competition law is applied in individual legal actions and class-action antitrust suits, particularly against tech giants [12]. - The litigation aims to redefine the application of competition law concerning data exploitation, potentially shifting the legal framework for addressing related issues [13].

Core Viewpoint - Meta is seeking proposals from nuclear power developers to add 1 to 4 gigawatts of electricity generating capacity in the U.S. to support its data centers and surrounding communities [2][3][7] Group 1: Meta's Nuclear Power Initiative - Meta's initial plan to build a nuclear data center was halted by regulatory concerns, prompting the company to seek external developers for nuclear power plants [1][4] - The company is willing to share costs early in the development cycle and commit to purchasing power once the reactors are operational [2][3] - Proposals must be submitted by February 7, 2025, with the goal of having power plants operational in the early 2030s [2][3] Group 2: Industry Context and Competition - Traditional nuclear plants typically generate around 1 gigawatt, which aligns with Meta's minimum requirements, but they are costly and time-consuming to build [5] - Small modular reactors (SMRs) are being explored by various tech companies, including Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, as a potential solution for cost-effective nuclear energy [6] - The recent surge in interest in nuclear power among tech companies suggests a potential renaissance in the sector over the next decade [7][8] Group 3: Regulatory and Market Considerations - Meta's approach may help navigate regulatory challenges by ensuring that power needs for data centers are balanced with overall grid stability [4] - The competitive landscape is evolving, with renewable energy and battery technologies becoming cheaper, which may impact the success of nuclear initiatives [8]