The top U.S. automotive safety regulator has opened a new investigation into Tesla’s so-called “Full Self-Driving (Supervised)” software after four reported crashes in low-visibility situations — including one where a pedestrian was killed.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) announced Friday that it is probing the driver assistance system to find out whether it can “detect and respond appropriately to reduced roadway visibility conditions,” such ...

Nebius, the company formerly known as Yandex that’s now focused on cloud infrastructure for AI uses (aka “AI compute”), is to begin trading on the public markets once again — more than two years after the Nasdaq halted trading due to economic sanctions imposed in the wake of Russia’s Ukraine invasion in 2022.The Netherlands-based company is vying to become one of Europe’s leading players in the burgeoning “GPU-as-a-service” space, and sits in a somewhat unique position — it is a startup in many ways as it’s ...

In Brief AWS CEO Matt Garman has harsh words for remote workers: return to the office or quit. The Amazon executive recently told employees who don’t like the new five-day in-person work policy that, “there are other companies around,” presumably companies they can work for remotely, Reuters reported on Thursday.Amazon’s top boss, Andy Jassy, told employees last month that there will be a full return-to-office starting in 2025, an increase from three days for roughly the last year. Garman is the latest tec ...

Core Insights - Microsoft experienced a logging outage for its cloud products during a two-week period in September, which may have created a security blind spot for customers [1][2] - The outage was attributed to a bug in Microsoft's internal monitoring agents, not a security incident, affecting the collection of log events [1][2] - Affected products include Microsoft Entra, Sentinel, Defender for Cloud, and Purview, potentially hindering customers' ability to analyze data and detect threats [2] Incident Background - The logging outage follows previous scrutiny from federal investigators regarding Microsoft's withholding of security logs from U.S. government departments, which could have expedited the identification of China-backed intrusions [3] - The intrusions, attributed to a group known as Storm-0558, involved the theft of a digital skeleton key that allowed access to U.S. government emails stored in Microsoft's cloud [3] - In response to past incidents, Microsoft announced it would start providing logs to lower-tier cloud accounts beginning September 2023 [4]

Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced on Thursday that Prabhakar Raghavan, the executive in charge of the company’s search engine and ads products, is leaving his role. Longtime Google executive Nick Fox will replace Raghavan, who will now take on the role of chief technologist. “Prabhakar has decided it’s time to make a big leap in his own career,” Pichai said in the announcement post. “After 12 years leading teams across Google, he’ll return to his computer science roots and take on the role of Chief Technol ...

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility!Kirsten is still out doing Kirsten things, so I (Rebecca Bellan) will continue to pass along all the tech mobility news that’s fit to print. It’s been a week since Tesla’s flashy robotaxi reveal, and everyone seems to have differing opinions on what Elon Musk showcased and, crucially, what he left out. Obviously the big deal was the robotaxi or ...

For the next month, Bay Area riders of Waymo robotaxis can earn a $3 credit whenever they travel to and from certain public transit stations.Riders will be able to take advantage of the offer through November 15, and they can use the credits earned towards future robotaxi rides from now until December 31, the company said. The pilot program is the first of its kind among autonomous vehicle operators in the U.S. It comes after Waymo found in a recent survey that 36% of San Francisco riders have used Waymo’s ...

Group 1 - Meta confirmed layoffs affecting multiple teams, including Threads, recruiting, legal operations, and design, to reallocate resources [1] - A spokesperson stated that the changes align with long-term strategic goals and location strategy, involving role eliminations and relocations [1] - Affected employees received severance pay, with reports of over a dozen layoffs occurring via video calls [1] Group 2 - In recent years, Meta has significantly reduced its workforce after aggressive hiring during the pandemic, laying off approximately 13% of its workforce (11,000 employees) in 2022 [2] - In 2023, Meta laid off an additional 10,000 employees and withdrew 5,000 open roles [2]

In Brief Apple worked with a Chinese automaker for years to design a battery system for its now-canceled car project. That’s according to Bloomberg, which reports that Apple was collaborating with BYD Co., a Shenzhen-based car company, to develop batteries using lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells. Apple contributed engineering expertise, specifically in areas like heat management and advanced battery packs, while BYD supplied its manufacturing resources and proprietary LFP technologies. The battery was in ...

Tesla's FSD and Robotaxi Plans - Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced plans to release an "unsupervised" version of Full Self-Driving (FSD) in Texas and California by 2025 for certain Model 3 and Model Y vehicles [1] - Tesla aims to begin production of robotaxis without steering wheels or pedals by 2026 or 2027 [1] - The term "unsupervised FSD" could refer to either a Level 4 fully autonomous system or a Level 3 "hands-off, eyes-off" system [2] - Tesla plans to launch the unsupervised FSD software in California and Texas in 2025, though it is unclear if it will require additional costs for customers [2] Regulatory Landscape for Autonomous Vehicles - Texas allows companies to deploy autonomous vehicles (AVs) with minimal regulatory oversight, provided they comply with traffic laws, have recording devices, and carry liability insurance [3] - California has stricter regulations, requiring permits for drivered testing, driverless testing, and deployment of AVs [3] - Tesla currently holds a drivered testing permit in California but has not applied for driverless testing or deployment permits [3] - To operate a Level 4 system, Tesla would need both driverless testing and deployment permits, while a Level 3 system would only require a deployment permit [3] - Tesla would need additional permits from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to enter the ride-hail business [3] Challenges in Robotaxi Production - Tesla faces regulatory hurdles in producing robotaxis without traditional driver controls, as federal motor vehicle safety standards (FMVSS) currently require exemptions for such vehicles [5] - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has only granted one exemption to date, for Nuro's low-speed delivery vehicles [5] - General Motors and Amazon's Zoox have faced delays or denials in obtaining similar exemptions for their autonomous vehicles [5] - NHTSA has delayed a rule-making process that could accommodate AVs without human controls, further complicating Tesla's timeline [5] Industry Comparisons - Mercedes is the only automaker with a permit to operate a Level 3 system (Drive Pilot) in California, but it is limited to highways, daytime use, and speeds of 40 mph [4] - Tesla's ambitious timeline for robotaxi production contrasts with its past missed deadlines, such as the 2020 claim of having 1 million robotaxis on the road [5] Market Reaction - Tesla's stock fell nearly 10% following the robotaxi reveal event, reflecting investor concerns over regulatory challenges and lack of clarity on Tesla's strategy [5]