April 22, 2019

A Quick Report Card on Self-Driving Cars

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I was just reading Atrios’s latest barb against Elon Musk’s “self-driving” Tesla—a subject we agree on—and got to wondering how Waymo is doing these days. I consider them the real bellwether for self-driving technology, but it’s been a few months since I checked in on them.

Long story short, Waymo announced last month that they’re building a second technical center in Chandler, Arizona, which will allow them to expand their commercial fleet. However, they’re still in pilot mode, with a safety driver behind the wheel at all times.

That’s about it. Steady but slow progress, and no one has died.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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