Latest news with #selfdriving
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Automotive
- Forbes
Waymo Vets Are Automating Construction With Self-Driving Excavators
A team of engineers from self-driving robotaxi leader Waymo is eyeing another huge market to automate: construction equipment. Last year, Boris Sofman, previously a star engineer at robotaxi leader Waymo where he worked to automate trucks, teamed up with former Waymo colleagues Ajay Gummalla and Kevin Peterson, along with Tom Eliaz, founder of data platform Sement that Twilio bought for $3.2 billion, to start Bedrock Robotics. They're starting with excavators, the ubiquitous machines that do the heavy digging. The San Francisco-based startup isn't designing its own line of construction machinery, but instead plans to modify existing equipment with cameras, lidar, computers and AI software that enables them to work around the clock–including in blistering heat when human workers would need regular breaks. Bedrock, which has also brought on former Uber Freight EVP Laurent Hautefeuille as COO, is emerging from stealth with $80 million in new funding and plans to begin commercial operations in 2026. 'It's another one of those transportation-style spaces that is due for a wave of what's happening in transportation.' Waymo's success with robotaxis shows 'the state of technology just being right, where we're seeing it work on one of the hardest applications in the world,' Sofman told Forbes. 'That's exactly the type of building block that catalyzes change. When you tally up all the ways we use these specialized heavy machines, it's another one of those transportation-style spaces that is due for a wave of what's happening in transportation.' It's a tricky time for the massive U.S. construction industry. There's huge demand for new housing, data centers and factories, but the Trump Administration's tariffs and its aggressive immigration crackdown are boosting materials costs and exacerbating an already tight supply of skilled workers. 'It's this fascinating situation where you have an astronomical macroeconomic tail and a need to re-industrialize the U.S.,' Sofman said. 'At the same time, the labor pool, even more aggressively than what we saw in trucking, is going the opposite direction.' He isn't yet providing revenue targets, but the market is a big one. Infrastructure upgrades aided by the passage of Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure law, combined with higher demand for new warehouses, data centers and factories, will likely boost U.S. excavator contract revenue to $145 billion this year, up 2.5%, according to an IBISWorld report. Bedrock isn't sharing a valuation yet but will likely raise additional funding within a year. Autonomous excavator testing is underway at Bedrock's sites in Arizona, Texas and Arkansas, and the company plans to expand testing to a customer's work site next month. If all goes well, 'we expect to get the first operator-out form in 2026,' said CEO Sofman, who has a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. Bedrock engineers review work site data. Bedrock Robotics 'Boris has assembled an extraordinary founding team, many of whom I had the privilege of working with,' said former Waymo CEO John Krafcik, who's invested an undisclosed amount in the startup. 'It's an exceptional group with the technical depth, grit and vision to make autonomous construction machines real.' Unlike Waymo or autonomous trucking developer Aurora, the startup's capital needs are much lower as it's not building or buying fleets of vehicles or a large factory. And working on private commercial construction sites means Bedrock doesn't have to contend with the regulatory challenges of operating robotaxis and robotic semis on public roadways. Speed isn't a factor either, because work sites operate at a human pace. Sofman estimates projects could see at least a 20% reduction in labor costs, but more importantly, could be completed faster than those using only human workers. Labor Shortage There's already a shortfall of laborers to replace the approximately 500,000 people a year who are aging out or retiring, according to the Associated Builders and Contractors trade association. At the same time, Trump's 25% tariff on imported steel and aluminum and his threat to boost the tariff on Canadian lumber to 35% are raising costs across the board. 'We're not instantly going from people to no people. I don't think anybody thinks that's a reality of what could happen.' The full impact of the current immigration crackdown isn't yet clear, though 34% of construction trades workers in 2023 were foreign-born, nearly double the 18% rate among all workers, said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America trade group, citing U.S. census data. Still, the portion of immigrant workers is lower for skilled trades that require certification, like excavator operation, he said. Given the shortage, the technology isn't likely to kill jobs but instead allow human crews to do everything more efficiently, said Eric Cylwik, director of innovation for Sundt Construction, an Arizona-based firm that's helping Bedrock develop and test its tech, along with Texas-based Zachry Construction and Champion Site Prep. 'We're not instantly going from people to no people. I don't think anybody thinks that's a reality of what could happen,' he said. Instead, Bedrock's tech will enable Sundt and its competitors to do things like more overnight work, where robotic excavators could complete boring, repetitive site preparation tasks like loading dump trucks with dirt and allow human workers to focus on things like pipe installation. It could also help aid crews at remote work sites, 'where we can't get enough operators for the equipment we want to deploy,' Cylwik said. Bedrock isn't saying how much it will charge to upfit complex digging machines like excavators that cost $500,000 new, though its ability to modify existing equipment with autonomous capabilities is extremely appealing to companies like Sundt. 'It's nice because it works across our entire fleet, and it can be done for a fraction of the cost of buying a brand new excavator,' Cylwik said. Bedrock's lidar system can precisely measure how much dirt is moved with each scoop. Bedrock Robotics Laser lidar, which can instantly create 3D images of the world, even at high speeds, is critical for safe driving on the road. On a construction site, it's able to map ground conditions in detail and precisely measure how many cubic yards of dirt are removed with each scoop of the excavator, essential information for contractors. For some projects, 'we have to have a registered land surveyor come out and quantify how much earth we move every time we go for a payout,' Cylwik said. 'With a system like this, we can say every single day exactly how much earth every piece of equipment moved,' which affects how quickly Sundt gets paid. 'There are some deep-seated impacts on the business of construction by being able to analyze that much data that quickly.' The speed with which Bedrock has gone from concept to testing to planned commercialization is what appealed to venture firm Eclipse, which co-led its May 2024 seed round and current Series A with 8VC. Additional backers are Two Sigma Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Nvidia's NVentures, Crossbeam Venture Partners, Raine Group, Tishman Speyer, Atreides Management, Al Rajhi Partners and Samsara Ventures. 'It's an absolute whirlwind,' said Eclipse partner Aidan Madigan-Curtis. 'The company started in May [2024] and they already had something working autonomously at their test site by early November. It's kind of bananas. They're now doing [human] operator-out, full autonomous excavation at their test site, and they're going to be doing that at a customer site next month.' 'We're not competing with Caterpillar and trying to make machines. We're trying to make machines more intelligent.' They've also targeted an industry with little to no initial competition. Leading equipment manufacturers such as Caterpillar and John Deere are moving into automation with robotic mining trucks and tractors, but they haven't focused on things like excavators, wheel-loaders and dumptrucks that are vital to commercial construction. Before Bedrock, 'there have been zero opportunities to test out [automated] construction equipment,' Cylwik said. CEO and cofounder Boris Sofman Bedrock Robotics Asking why Caterpillar and Deere haven't created competing robotic solutions for construction is like asking why BMW didn't create Waymo, Sofman said. 'The mechanics of what they've designed is magical. These are such incredible machines, and the fact that they operate so reliably and so thoughtfully in such difficult environments is a marvel, but it's a different DNA than the sort that you need to build out a machine learning team.' Instead, he's hopeful Bedrock will partner with those companies. 'We're not competing with Caterpillar and trying to make machines. We're trying to make machines more intelligent,' he said. 'It becomes a very complementary element to the whole ecosystem where Caterpillar and Deere machines become more intelligent, the general contractors and subcontractors can do much more work, more productively with a higher margin–and the whole society benefits because more work gets done and prices become a lot more attainable.' More from Forbes Forbes This AI Founder Became A Billionaire By Building ChatGPT For Doctors By Amy Feldman Forbes Inside The Waymo Factory Building A Robotaxi Future By Alan Ohnsman Forbes Forget Tesla. Amazon's Zoox Is On Track To Be Waymo's Biggest Robotaxi Rival By Alan Ohnsman
CNA
18 hours ago
- Automotive
- CNA
US auto safety nominee calls for active oversight of self-driving cars
WASHINGTON :President Donald Trump's nominee to head the nation's auto safety regulator will argue on Wednesday that the agency must actively oversee self-driving vehicle technology, a potential sign of a tougher approach than some critics expected. Jonathan Morrison, chief counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the first Trump administration, will testify to the U.S. Senate that autonomous vehicles offer potential benefits but also unique risks. "NHTSA cannot sit back and wait for problems to arise with such developing technologies, but must demonstrate strong leadership," Morrison said in written testimony seen by Reuters. The comments suggested NHTSA will continue to closely scrutinize self-driving vehicles. Some critics of the technology had expressed alarm over NHTSA staff cuts this year under a cost-cutting campaign led by Elon Musk, who was a close adviser to Trump and is CEO of self-driving automaker Tesla. The Musk-Trump alliance prompted some critics to speculate that NHTSA would go easy on self-driving vehicle developers. But the relationship began to unravel in late May over Trump's spending plans, and the two are now locked in a feud. NHTSA said last month it was seeking information from Tesla about social media videos of robotaxis and self-driving cars Tesla was testing in Austin, Texas. The videos were alleged to show one of the vehicles using the wrong lane and another speeding. Since October, NHTSA has been investigating 2.4 million Tesla vehicles with full self-driving technology after four reported collisions, including a 2023 fatal crash. "The technical and policy challenges surrounding these new technologies must be addressed," Morrison's testimony said. "Failure to do so will result in products that the public will not accept and the agency will not tolerate." Other companies in the self-driving sector also were subjects of NHTSA investigations including Alphabet's Waymo, which last year faced reports its robotaxis may have broken traffic laws. Waymo in May recalled 1,200 self-driving vehicles, and the probe remains open. Regulatory scrutiny increased after 2023 when a pedestrian was seriously injured by a GM Cruise self-driving car. The first recorded death of a pedestrian related to self-driving technology was in 2018 in Tempe, Arizona.
Reuters
18 hours ago
- Automotive
- Reuters
US auto safety nominee calls for active oversight of self-driving cars
WASHINGTON, July 15 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's nominee to head the nation's auto safety regulator will argue on Wednesday that the agency must actively oversee self-driving vehicle technology, a potential sign of a tougher approach than some critics expected. Jonathan Morrison, chief counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the first Trump administration, will testify to the U.S. Senate that autonomous vehicles offer potential benefits but also unique risks. "NHTSA cannot sit back and wait for problems to arise with such developing technologies, but must demonstrate strong leadership," Morrison said in written testimony seen by Reuters. The comments suggested NHTSA will continue to closely scrutinize self-driving vehicles. Some critics of the technology had expressed alarm over NHTSA staff cuts this year under a cost-cutting campaign led by Elon Musk, who was a close adviser to Trump and is CEO of self-driving automaker Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab. The Musk-Trump alliance prompted some critics to speculate that NHTSA would go easy on self-driving vehicle developers. But the relationship began to unravel in late May over Trump's spending plans, and the two are now locked in a feud. NHTSA said last month it was seeking information from Tesla about social media videos of robotaxis and self-driving cars Tesla was testing in Austin, Texas. The videos were alleged to show one of the vehicles using the wrong lane and another speeding. Since October, NHTSA has been investigating 2.4 million Tesla vehicles with full self-driving technology after four reported collisions, including a 2023 fatal crash. "The technical and policy challenges surrounding these new technologies must be addressed," Morrison's testimony said. "Failure to do so will result in products that the public will not accept and the agency will not tolerate." Other companies in the self-driving sector also were subjects of NHTSA investigations including Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Waymo, which last year faced reports its robotaxis may have broken traffic laws. Waymo in May recalled 1,200 self-driving vehicles, and the probe remains open. Regulatory scrutiny increased after 2023 when a pedestrian was seriously injured by a GM (GM.N), opens new tab Cruise self-driving car. The first recorded death of a pedestrian related to self-driving technology was in 2018 in Tempe, Arizona.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
AV startup Pronto.ai acquires off-road autonomous vehicle rival SafeAI
The Venn diagram of engineers that know a little bit about AI, self driving, and mining has a small intersection. CEO Anthony Levandowski wants as many of those people as possible. And an acquisition is helping him achieve that goal. The San Francisco-based startup, which has developed a self-driving system designed for haulage trucks and other off-road vehicles used at construction and mining sites, has acquired competitor Safe AI, TechCrunch has learned. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. However, Levandowski said the acquisition is a talent and technology play. The bulk of the small 12-person startup's engineering team and its IP will come over to Pronto. A source familiar with the deal said Safe AI acquisition price was in 'the millions.' 'In the autonomous haulage system space, there's really kind of two players — it's SafeAI and us,' Levandowski told TechCrunch in a recent interview, adding that SafeAI and Pronto have taken different approaches to the market. 'We've been growing a ton and needed to add more people and resources to the team, so it made sense to purchase them … have more wood behind fewer arrows so that we could grow faster.' Pronto, which was co-founded with Ognen Stojanovski in 2018, uses advanced sensors, cameras and artificial intelligence to operate haul trucks autonomously. Pronto also uses Pollen Mobile, a peer-to-peer open source mobile data network the startup launched in 2022 that allows it to exchange data anonymously and at high speeds without relying on legacy carriers. Pollen is used to support sites with little to no connectivity. Pronto has kept its team fairly lean at about 40 people. The SafeAI acquisition will help Pronto serve more customers, including internationally, Levandowski said. Last year, Pronto extended a partnership with Heidelberg Materials North America, one of the largest build materials and cement producers in the world, following a pilot program at the company's Bridgeport Quarry in Texas. Pronto's technology is integrated into Komatsu haulage trucks, which operates autonomously at the site. Earlier this year, Pronto announced an agreement with Heidelberg to deploy more than 100 autonomous trucks and expanding its team in Brazil. The acquisition will also allow Pronto meet a variety of needs from small quarries to large mines. Notably, the acquisition will allow Pronto to offer customers a tiered technology portfolio. Pronto is known for its camera-only approach. SafeAI, which was founded in 2017 and raised $38 million in Series B round of funding three years ago, uses multiple sensors on-vehicle cameras, radar, and lidar. Pronto plans to offer the multi-sensor approach as well as use SafeAI's safety framework that has been ASIL D-certified, the highest safety integrity level in the while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
TechCrunch
21 hours ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
AV startup Pronto.ai acquires off-road autonomous vehicle rival SafeAI
The Venn diagram of engineers that know a little bit about AI, self driving, and mining has a small intersection. CEO Anthony Levandowski wants as many of those people as possible. And an acquisition is helping him achieve that goal. The San Francisco-based startup, which has developed a self-driving system designed for haulage trucks and other off-road vehicles used at construction and mining sites, has acquired competitor Safe AI, TechCrunch has learned. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. However, Levandowski said the acquisition is a talent and technology play. The bulk of the small 12-person startup's engineering team and its IP will come over to Pronto. A source familiar with the deal said Safe AI acquisition price was in 'the millions.' 'In the autonomous haulage system space, there's really kind of two players — it's SafeAI and us,' Levandowski told TechCrunch in a recent interview, adding that SafeAI and Pronto have taken different approaches to the market. 'We've been growing a ton and needed to add more people and resources to the team, so it made sense to purchase them … have more wood behind fewer arrows so that we could grow faster.' Pronto, which was co-founded with Ognen Stojanovski in 2018, uses advanced sensors, cameras and artificial intelligence to operate haul trucks autonomously. Pronto also uses Pollen Mobile, a peer-to-peer open source mobile data network the startup launched in 2022 that allows it to exchange data anonymously and at high speeds without relying on legacy carriers. Pollen is used to support sites with little to no connectivity. Pronto has kept its team fairly lean at about 40 people. The SafeAI acquisition will help Pronto serve more customers, including internationally, Levandowski said. Last year, Pronto extended a partnership with Heidelberg Materials North America, one of the largest build materials and cement producers in the world, following a pilot program at the company's Bridgeport Quarry in Texas. Pronto's technology is integrated into Komatsu haulage trucks, which operates autonomously at the site. Earlier this year, Pronto announced an agreement with Heidelberg to deploy more than 100 autonomous trucks and expanding its team in Brazil. Techcrunch event LIVE NOW! TechCrunch All Stage Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $450 on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW The acquisition will also allow Pronto meet a variety of needs from small quarries to large mines. Notably, the acquisition will allow Pronto to offer customers a tiered technology portfolio. Pronto is known for its camera-only approach. SafeAI, which was founded in 2017 and raised $38 million in Series B round of funding three years ago, uses multiple sensors on-vehicle cameras, radar, and lidar. Pronto plans to offer the multi-sensor approach as well as use SafeAI's safety framework that has been ASIL D-certified, the highest safety integrity level in the industry.
