A police officer in Phoenix pulled over a Waymo self-driving vehicle after it made a mistake and drove into the wrong lane. The incident happened on June 19, but the Arizona Republic recently released bodycam footage of the traffic stop, showing the car navigating through traffic before finally stopping in a parking lot. The officer approached the empty vehicle as it sat there.
According to dispatch records, the car “FREAKED OUT” and the officer couldn’t issue a citation to the computer. A Waymo spokesperson explained that the vehicle encountered confusing construction signs and briefly ended up in the wrong lane, which it stayed in for about 30 seconds while trying to get back to the correct lane.
The entire event lasted about a minute, and there were no passengers in the vehicle at the time. Waymo, owned by Alphabet, has voluntarily recalled its software twice this year due to crashes, and federal regulators are looking into the safety of its software.
In other news, Chinese government workers in Jiangsu province can now buy Tesla’s Model Y for official use. Generative AI models process text differently from humans, which may explain some of their unusual behaviors. Apple has approved Fortnite maker Epic Games’ third-party app marketplace for launch in the EU. A recent hack of OpenAI’s systems did not compromise secret ChatGPT conversations.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 will be taking place in San Francisco from October 28 to 30 with the support of various partners. The European Commission has requested more information from Amazon regarding its compliance with digital regulations. Quantum Rise, a Chicago startup, raised $15 million for AI-driven automation. YouTube released an updated eraser tool for creators to remove copyrighted music from videos.
Airtel in India denied any security breach following concerns from customers. Spanish startups have seen their enterprise value surpass €100 billion in 2023. Forestay, a VC based in Geneva, closed its second fund at $220 million. Meta’s Twitter alternative Threads has reached 175 million monthly active users. J2 Ventures, led by U.S. military veterans, raised a $150 million second fund. HealthEquity and Roll20 experienced security incidents, while Fisker is selling its remaining electric Ocean SUV inventory in bankruptcy.
Teddy Solomon used the Stanford community on Fizz to furnish his new house in Palo Alto. Sidney Scott realized the challenge for smaller funds in competing for hard tech deals. Amazon discontinued its Astro for Business security robot just seven months after launch. The U.S. Supreme Court made a ruling on federal agencies’ power, affecting the use of AI. Noplace, a new platform, allows users to customize their profile colors. Cloudflare analyzed AI bot and crawler traffic for better detection models, and Twilio reported a phone number privacy issue with its two-factor app Authy.
