Latest news with #SterlingAnderson
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Straits Times
GM plans renewed push on driverless cars after Cruise debacle
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Renewed push: General Motors wants to develop driverless technology for personal cars, instead of a robotaxi service, which was closed earlier in 2025. DETROIT – General Motors (GM) is seeking to lure back some former employees of its defunct Cruise autonomous-vehicle business as part of a renewed push to develop a new driverless car, according to people familiar with the matter. This time around, the project would be focused on autonomous cars for personal use, rather than a robotaxi service, these sources said. The first step is the development of hands-free, eyes-free driving with a human in the vehicle, with the ultimate goal being a car that can drive with no one at the wheel, they said. The plan was detailed in an employee meeting on Aug 6 by Mr Sterling Anderson, the former Tesla Autopilot chief who joined GM earlier in 2025 , said the people, who asked not to be identified because the meeting was private. Mr Anderson said he sees autonomy as the future and that GM will add more talent, including trying to bring back some Cruise workers and hire new staff for the carmaker's Mountain View, California, office. GM told Bloomberg that it has been running human-driven vehicles on public roads, gathering data for the development of self-driving technology. 'We're accelerating the development of autonomous-driving technology capable of operating without active human oversight,' spokeswoman Chaiti Sen said in a statement. The Lidar-equipped fleet is logging data to build simulation models that will guide development. Plans for a hiring push show that chief executive Mary Barra remains committed to the increasingly competitive driverless-vehicle market, even after shuttering Cruise in 2024 . Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Ong Beng Seng fined $30k for abetting former minister Iswaran in obstructing course of justice Life How do household bomb shelters in Singapore really work? Singapore Sengkang-Punggol LRT line resumes full service 4 hours after power fault halts trains Asia Johor authorities seize four Singapore-registered vehicles over illegal e-hailing Singapore Owners call for stronger management rules in ageing condos, but seek to avoid being overburdened Asia Japan's PM Ishiba mentions wartime 'regret', toeing right-wing line GM exited the robotaxi business following an incident that seriously injured a pedestrian, drawing a crackdown by regulators and eventually leading to the firing of nine top executives and the resignation of former chief executive Kyle Vogt. GM cut about 1,000 Cruise employees, or half of its workforce, earlier in 2025 . Mr Anderson came to GM in May from Aurora Innovation, which is focused on autonomous trucking and, before that, he led the development of Tesla's Autopilot driver-assist system about a decade ago. He was hired to oversee all product development, which includes everything from petrol-powered vehicles and electric models to GM's driver assist and autonomous technology. The former Aurora chief product officer has studied autonomy since working on his PhD at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Mr Anderson wrote a paper at MIT about semi-autonomous driving for his doctorate in mechanical engineering. GM exited the Cruise robotaxi business in part due to the cost of developing the platform, but said at the time it would keep working on a personally owned autonomous vehicle. Several years ago, GM had planned to have such a vehicle ready for mid-decade, but no longer has a public target date. Development of the vehicle has been done concurrently with work on GM's Super Cruise hands-free driving system. Despite laying off workers at Cruise and in GM's software unit, Ms Barra has maintained that GM remains committed to driverless vehicles. On the carmaker's second-quarter earnings call, she cited autonomous technology, along with expanding GM's domestic supply chain and innovating in batteries, as some of the company's clear priorities. BLOOMBERG
Yahoo
12-08-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
GM revives driverless car development for personal use AVs
General Motors (GM) is reportedly reviving its efforts to develop autonomous vehicles (AVs) with a focus on personal-use cars, as reported by Bloomberg, citing familiar sources. The initiative was unveiled by Sterling Anderson, a recent addition to GM's team and former Tesla autopilot chief, in an employee meeting held on 6 August. According to sources familiar with the matter, GM initially aims to develop 'hands-free, eyes-free' driving technology with a human in the vehicle, with the ultimate objective of creating a fully driverless car. Anderson noted that the company is actively seeking to rehire some former Cruise employees and plans to expand its talent pool for the project, with recruitment efforts targeting its Mountain View, California, US office, among other locations. GM has confirmed to the news agency that it is currently operating human-driven vehicles on public roads to collect data for the development of self-driving technology. This move indicates CEO Mary Barra's commitment to the competitive driverless vehicle market, despite the company's exit from the robotaxi business. The decision to shut down Cruise came after an incident that caused serious injury to a pedestrian, leading to regulatory scrutiny and the departure of several executives, including former CEO Kyle Vogt. GM had previously planned to introduce a personally owned autonomous vehicle by the middle of the decade, but the timeline has since been removed from public view. The development of this vehicle is ongoing, alongside improvements to GM's Super Cruise hands-free driving system. Despite recent layoffs at Cruise and within GM's software division, Barra has reaffirmed the company's dedication to driverless vehicle technology. She highlighted autonomous technology as one of GM's "clear priorities" during the company's second-quarter earnings call. Anderson has been entrusted with the oversight of product development at GM. This encompasses a broad range of responsibilities, from traditional gasoline-powered vehicles to electric models, as well as driver assist and autonomous technologies. "GM revives driverless car development for personal use AVs – report" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
11-08-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
GM seeks to rehire former Cruise staff in new autonomous car push
-- General Motors Co (NYSE:GM). is looking to bring back some former employees from its discontinued Cruise autonomous-vehicle unit as part of a new initiative to develop driverless cars, according to a Bloomberg report on Monday. Unlike Cruise's robotaxi service focus, this new project aims to create autonomous vehicles for personal use. The development will begin with hands-free, eyes-free driving systems that still require a human in the vehicle, with the ultimate goal of creating fully autonomous cars that can operate without anyone at the wheel. Sterling Anderson, who previously led Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc.'s Autopilot program before joining GM earlier this year, reportedly outlined these plans during an employee meeting on Wednesday. During the meeting, Anderson is said to have expressed his view that autonomy is the future of transportation and announced that GM will expand its talent pool by attempting to rehire former Cruise workers and bring in new staff for its Mountain View, California, office. Earlier this year, GM reduced Cruise's workforce by approximately 1,000 employees, which represented about half of the unit's staff. Related articles GM seeks to rehire former Cruise staff in new autonomous car push After soaring 149%, this stock is back in our AI's favor - & already +25% in July If Powell goes, does Fed trust go with him? Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Irish Times
18-07-2025
- Automotive
- Irish Times
Why driverless vehicles just can't quit humans
'There's nobody in the truck,' Sterling Anderson, co-founder of autonomous truck company Aurora, said in a podcast interview last year. 'We're not Wizard of Oz-ing this thing.' Anderson was referring to the company's plans to begin a commercial delivery service using driverless trucks between Dallas and Houston in Texas . What he meant, I think, was this: our technology is not a parlour trick. Unlike in the Wizard of Oz, there won't be a human hidden behind the curtain. In May this year, Aurora announced its commercial driverless trucking service had officially begun. But a few weeks later, the company made another announcement: its truck manufacturing partner PACCAR 'requested we have a person in the driver's seat, because of certain prototype parts in their base vehicle platform' and 'after much consideration, we respected their request and are moving the observer, who had been riding in the back of some of our trips, from the back seat to the front seat'. Aurora insisted this wasn't necessary to operate the truck safely, and that the observer would not operate the vehicle. Still, it was clearly a blow to its ambition to have 'nobody in the truck'. Aside from the fear that it might look like they are 'Wizard of Oz-ing this thing', the investment case for driverless trucks doesn't look so good if you need to pay someone to sit in each one. Aurora isn't the only autonomous vehicle company that hasn't quite been able to quit humans. When Tesla launched its robotaxi service last month in Austin, Texas, the cars had human 'safety monitors' in the passenger seats. Even the more established self-driving taxi services, which don't have anyone inside the car, still have humans behind the scenes. In China, Baidu 's robotaxis launched with 'remote human operators' who could take control of the cars if necessary. Waymo , in contrast, doesn't have 'remote drivers', but it does have 'human fleet response agents'. Confused Waymos remain in control but can ask these humans for advice. READ MORE If humans are such poor drivers (as many self-driving car companies allege), why can't supposedly superior machines cope without them? Because machines and humans are good at different things. Machines don't get tired, bored, drunk or distracted, but they struggle with real-world 'edge cases' that require contextual awareness and intuition, such as how best to navigate a blockage on the road, or what a construction worker waving his arms around is trying to tell you. On top of that, every safe system should have a backstop in case of technical problems. In that sense, the autonomous vehicle companies should be applauded for keeping humans around. It doesn't mean they're trying to pull off a parlour trick. But it does mean we should know much more about how these human roles actually work. That's because systems that rely on a combination of machines and humans can suffer from all sorts of well-documented problems. Humans asked to be safety monitors might suffer from 'automation complacency', which is the human tendency to lose concentration while supervising autonomous systems. Remote drivers might struggle with technical issues like connection problems and poor latency. Then there are questions of liability: if a human in a support centre somewhere gives bad advice to an autonomous vehicle that leads to an accident, who is to blame? The technology company? The employer? The individual? What if that human isn't in the same state, or even the same country? [ Would I use a driverless taxi again? It obeyed traffic signs, stopped for pedestrians and drove cautiously Opens in new window ] Bryant Walker Smith, an associate professor of law at the University of South Carolina, told me the onus should be on the self-driving companies to explain exactly what they're doing and why they think it is safe. 'Regulators absolutely should interrogate every piece of that.' [ Tesla's robotaxi: modest rollout, wild stock ride Opens in new window ] Yet so far, many of these human roles have remained in the shadows. When I sent a list of basic questions to Waymo, Tesla and Aurora, only Waymo responded. The company declined to say how many people worked in its fleet response team, but it did say they were employed by Cognizant , an IT company, that they required drivers' licences and that they were 'seated in Arizona, Michigan, and in an offshore location'. When I asked about lines of accountability, the company said that 'to the extent a Waymo vehicle was involved in a collision that caused property damage or injury, Waymo would be responsible for the liability imposed on it by law'. It shouldn't be viewed as a problem that self-driving cars still need support from humans behind the scenes. But nor should those roles be hidden away. It's time for regulators to pull back the curtain. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Canaccord Genuity Maintained a Buy Rating on Aurora Innovation (AUR)
Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) is one of the 1 On May 15, George Gianarikas from Canaccord Genuity maintained a Buy rating on Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) with a price target of $15. The analyst highlighted Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR)'s advanced approach to Level 4 autonomy through its hybrid system called the Aurora Driver. The system integrates AI, machine learning, and a sophisticated sensor suite. Gianarikas noted that the system is supported by over 1,450 issued and pending patents, showcasing strong intellectual property and innovation. A closeup of a self-driving hardware unit inside the dashboard of a passenger vehicle. The analyst also likes the company's leadership, which includes co-founder Sterling Anderson, who has a notable background from Tesla's Autopilot program and MIT robotics. Gianarikas sees this as a significant asset that enhances his confidence in Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR)'s strategic direction. Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) develops the Aurora Driver, an advanced self-driving technology platform that can be integrated into various vehicle types, including passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, and Class 8 trucks. While we acknowledge the potential of AUR as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: 30 Stocks That Should Double in 3 Years and 11 Hidden AI Stocks to Buy Right Now. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey. Sign in to access your portfolio
