Waymo is voluntarily recalling the software that powers its robotaxi fleet after two vehicles crashed into the same towed pickup truck in Phoenix, Arizona, in December. It’s the company’s first recall.Waymo chief safety officer Mauricio Peña described the crashes as “minor” in a blog post, and said neither vehicle was carrying passengers at the time. There were no injuries. He also said Waymo’s ride-hailing service — which is live in Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin — “is not and has not been ...

Airbnb is slowly killing the cleaning fee as it aims for more transparent pricing.Since early last year, when the company started showing guests all-inclusive pricing when booking a property, almost 300,000 listings have removed or lowered cleaning fees, Airbnb said in its earnings report today. Now, nearly 40% of active listings no longer charge cleaning fees.On the customer side, these cleaning fees had been a longtime frustration. You could spot a bargain on a vacation rental on Airbnb, only to navigate ...

Google Bard is no more. Almost exactly a year after first introducing its (rushed) efforts to challenge OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the company is retiring the name and rebranding Bard as Gemini, the name of its family of foundation models. More importantly, though, it is also now launching Gemini Ultra, its most capable large language model yet.Gemini Ultra will be a paid experience, though. Google is making it available through a new $20 Google One tier (with a two-month-long free trial) that also includes 2TB of s ...

Lego Fortnite is only two months old, but Epic Games is already out with an even bigger collaboration.Epic and Disney announced today that the companies will partner on an “all-new games and entertainment universe” that will bring characters from Disney’s deep catalogue to life through Fortnite.The scope of the project sounds massive, to say the least. In a press release, the companies described the forthcoming project as “an all-new games and entertainment universe” offering players a way to “play, watch, ...

Last week’s Vision Pro release shed some fascinating light on Apple’s generally top secret development process. A Vanity Fair interview with Tim Cook detailed — in part — what a long and heavy lift it took to get the company’s first headset off the ground. The Apple CEO gave an early iteration of the device the less than flattering nickname, “the monster.”Rumored foldable versions of the iPhone have also reportedly had their share of setbacks. Issues around durability and the ever-present crease are said to ...

Core Insights - Arrival's UK division is entering administration, indicating a significant financial crisis for the company [1] - The company is attempting to sell its UK assets and intellectual property to repay lenders [1] - Arrival's stock was recently delisted from Nasdaq, and the company previously secured a $300 million lifeline to stabilize operations [1] - The company's valuation has plummeted from over $13 billion to approximately $9 million [2] Company Developments - Arrival's initial vision involved creating electric commercial vans and buses in compact "microfactories" located in urban areas, which has not materialized [2] - The company has faced continuous financial losses and has diversified into various projects, including an electric bus and a vehicle for Uber, without success [2] - Arrival has undergone multiple executive changes and restructurings, resulting in layoffs during each phase [2] Market Strategy - In 2022, Arrival shifted its focus from the UK to the US market as part of a restructuring effort to conserve capital [3] - Despite this pivot, the company has failed to produce and deliver any commercial vehicles [3]

Xpeng, Tesla’s challenger from China, has its eye on the international market and plans to use its smart driving software as a selling point.The Guangzhou-based electric vehicle upstart said at an event this week that it will start developing its highway-specific Navigation Guided Pilot (NGP) for global users in 2024, while the international version of its next-generation, all-purpose XNGP feature will commence development in 2025.“We look forward to enabling overseas users to access Xpeng’s autonomous driv ...

Well, that was fast.A settlement has been reached just two days after District Attorneys from 25 California counties filed a lawsuit against Tesla over allegations the automaker repeatedly mishandled hazardous waste at its facilities throughout the state.Tesla has agreed to pay $1.3 million in civil penalties and $200,000 to reimburse the costs of the investigation, according to a press release from the Office of the District Attorney in San Francisco. Tesla is also under a detailed injunction for five year ...

Google says YouTube now has over 100 million subscribersGoogle said today that YouTube now has more than 100 million paid users across YouTube Music and YouTube Premium. This number is up from the 80 million paid users the company mentioned in November 2022.Earlier this week, during its Q4 2023 earnings call, Sundar Pichai said that Google’s subscription business — which includes YouTube’s paid plans — has now crossed $15 billion annually.The company’s chief business officer Philipp Schindler said that prem ...

Fortnite maker Epic Games is preparing to fight Apple in court over how Apple has chosen to comply with a court order that required the tech giant to change its App Store rules. In the antitrust case filed by Epic Games, a district court judge in Northern California ruled that app developers should be able to point their users to links or buttons that connected to their websites, where their customers could learn about other ways to pay for apps beyond Apple’s in-app purchase. Apple agreed to allow such lin ...