State Of Autonomy: February Recap

Every month, I recap the news articles I’ve consumed around autonomous vehicles, calling out the highlights and keeping track of market projections. This is also your chance, dear readers, to nominate a topic for discussion in the following month.

Google had itself a monumental news month: first, reaching an industry milestone in having the NHTSA declare that the company’s self-driving AI “qualifies as a driver”; then, seeing the AI’s first-ever documented contribution to an accident… because the software was trying to mimic the more assumptive behavior of human driving styles. The irony is strong with this one.

This Month’s Highlights:

• NHTSA Agrees To Interpret Google’s Driving Software As A Driver
• Google’s AV Partially At Fault For Minor Collision With Bus In California
• Tech Firm Seeking To Build $1b Fake City In New Mexico To Test New Innovations Including Driverless Vehicles
• Google’s Sidewalk Labs Is Installing Smart Infrastructure In NYC For Future Technology Integrations
• “Car Hacker’s Handbook” Released For Sale by Craig Smith, Theia Labs
• George Hotz, Independent Autonomous Software Developer, Announces Hiring Plans for Comma.AI
• Current Technological Limitations And Workarounds For Snow
• Google Files Patent For Consumer-Grade Package Delivery System In AVs

Market Predictions:

Coming In March:

• This Is What The First Five Years Of Self-Driving Cars Will Look Like (early March)
• Privacy Is The Enemy Of Progress (late March)
• Your suggestion? Send a tweet to @mitchturck

Reactions From The Public:

Re: Questioning The Need For Auto Insurance In An Autonomous Future

Re: Whether AVs Should Have Steering Wheels And Pedals

Re: Surveying Interest In Buying Autonomous Vehicles