Published in Self-Driving Cars·Oct 28, 2022Lunch And Learn: Computer ChipsAt Kodiak we have a weekly, optional meeting called Lunch & Learn, where somebody in the company talks about something they know well. Usually the topic is related to, but not strictly a part of, Kodiak and autonomous trucking. And, usually, the format is for the session leader to play…Silicon1 min readSilicon1 min read
Published in Self-Driving Cars·Oct 26, 2022Mobileye IPOsMobileye is now a public company, under the symbol MBLY. Perhaps the high water mark of autonomous vehicle funding was Intel’s $15 billion acquisition of Mobileye in 2017. Other transactions were more speculative, like GM’s $600 million acquisition of Cruise, or Uber’s comparable acquisition of Otto, or Ford’s investment in…Intel1 min readIntel1 min read
Published in Self-Driving Cars·Oct 25, 2022Aurora HorizonAurora has a great blog post up about their upcoming Aurora Horizon service, which will operate with their upcoming self-driving trucks. In particular, the post features a great graphic describing “the middle mile” of autonomous trucking. “…our customers will drop off and pick up their trailers at our terminals, which…Autonomous Vehicles2 min readAutonomous Vehicles2 min read
Published in Self-Driving Cars·Oct 20, 2022Waymo Heading To Los AngelesWaymo posted on their blog today that they’ll be opening a self-driving service in Los Angeles. We’ve gotten to know many LA neighborhoods, including Downtown and Miracle Mile, Koreatown, Santa Monica, Westwood and West Hollywood, and we’ll begin driving autonomously in several central districts over the coming months as we…Waymo2 min readWaymo2 min read
Published in Self-Driving Cars·Oct 18, 2022Sunny With A Chance Of Self-Driving Swedish MeatballsKodiak just signed a deal to haul freight for IKEA in our self-driving trucks! At Forbes, Ed Garsten has a great article situating this latest news in the context of Kodiak’s ever-expanding commercial business, hauling freight coast-to-coast. Kodiak has been on a roll. One of the overlooked aspects of a big win like this is just how much it says about Kodiak’s ability to work with large multinational corporations. Companies like IKEA take their responsibilities to stakeholders — workers, communities, vendors — seriously. These companies typically have a deep set of partner requirements that new partners like Kodiak must meet. Kodiak’s ability to qualify to carry freight for IKEA speaks volumes about the robustness of our performance.Kodiak1 min readKodiak1 min read
Published in Self-Driving Cars·Oct 17, 2022The Cruise Origin Is (Maybe?) On The Road!You may see it in San Francisco! Our purpose-built AV, the Origin, is on track for production! While we eagerly await its arrival for commercial use in the coming months, you may see a human-operated Origin prototype driving on the streets of SF. 👀 I worked on the Origin…Autonomous Vehicles1 min readAutonomous Vehicles1 min read
Oct 15, 2022For Self-Driving Startups, Private Markets Are The Place To BeCrunchbase is out today with a writeup of the dim performance of all of the 2020–2021 self-driving SPACs and IPOs: “Self-Driving Tech Startups Are Driving Off A Cliff On Public Markets.” The article features a table of 14 self-driving-related companies that went public, ranging from Quanergy (down 99% since listing)…Autonomous Vehicles1 min readAutonomous Vehicles1 min read
Published in Self-Driving Cars·Oct 13, 2022Battery Tech Talk From Lucid’s Peter RawlinsonI just watched this terrific tech talk from Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson. He does a great job explaining both the basics of electric vehicle battery packs and also some of the tricks Lucid has turned in order to push the technology forward. Rawlinson incorporates just enough basic physics to ground the explanations in reality. I really appreciated that he took time to explain different approaches to battery pack configuration, what the trade-offs were between approaches, and why Lucid took the approach they did.Lucid Motors1 min readLucid Motors1 min read
Published in Self-Driving Cars·Oct 11, 2022Kodiak NewsKodiak Partners with Werner. The latest in a series of partnerships Kodiak has signed to haul freight for major industry shippers. CEO Don Burnette in the New York Times. Don discusses where Kodiak is on the road to autonomy, and why trucking is such a good domain for driverless automation. …Kodiak1 min readKodiak1 min read
Published in Self-Driving Cars·Oct 11, 2022RIP Amazon ScoutBloomberg reports the demise of Amazon Scout, the delightfully-shaped last-mile sidewalk delivery robot. Amazon spokesperson Alisa Carroll said the Scout team was being disbanded and would be offered new jobs in the organization. About 400 people were working on the project globally, according to the person, who requested anonymity to…Amazon1 min readAmazon1 min read
