12-07-2017, 10:57 PM
Today, the field looks different. Apple has scaled back its automotive ambitions, laying off staff and extending the deadlines for those who are left. Google’s parent, Alphabet Inc., is locked in a brutal battle with Uber Technologies Inc. over the intellectual property of Alphabet’s driverless unit, Waymo, and has sidelined plans to build cars. Tesla can barely get its driver-required Model 3 out of its factories. Meanwhile, on Nov. 29, GM unveiled the latest version of its electric Chevy Bolt, a close second to Waymo’s self-driving minivans as the most advanced autonomous car the world has seen. Among other things, GM intends the Bolts to form the backbone of a robo-taxi business it plans to start in 2019. “Autonomous driving is one of the most difficult software challenges of the decade, if not the century,” says Kyle Vogt, the face of GM’s automation efforts. And yet, improbably, the sleepy old automaker is a contender to solve it.
How GM Bought Its Way to the Front of the Driverless-Car Pack - Bloomberg